It seems that title of Jon Hopkins' new album, Music For Psychedelic Therapy, is to be taken more literally than we expected.
Speaking with The Guardian, the producer revealed that he designed the record to last the average length of a ketamine trip. Hopkins isn't aiming to soundtrack the typical high of a recreational user, though - he's interested in the potential of music to be used in healing and therapeutic psychedelic experiences, in which subjects undergo therapy while under the influence of drugs such as ketamine, magic mushrooms, ecstasy and LSD.
In a statement, Hopkins said that his forthcoming album is "a place as much as it is a sound. It works for the sober mind, but takes on a new dimension entirely when brought into a psychedelic ceremony."
Psychedelic therapy is a fast-growing area of research in which music plays a vital role. Recent research suggests that the music played during these sessions can positively impact the experience of the subject, possibly playing an even larger part in achieving mental health benefits than the psychedelic substances themselves.
“We’re entering an era where this kind of therapy is going to be legal and widespread, and you need to have music for it,” Hopkins told The Guardian. “I’ve got to be really careful of sounding too grandiose, but it really feels to me like there is a frontier here – a new genre of music.”
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