Fifteen Minutes of Fame Music Entertainment

Originally Published on June 3rd, 2026

Jon Hopper is having quite the year, so far. After debuting as a recording artist in November 2025 with the release of his debut single, an A/B side featuring Oh What a Day! and Spark and The Light, Hopper released two more A/B side singles at the end of the year, then opened 2026 with a bang as he released his debut album, The Green Fuse. The debut featured 11 songs and has a 50-minute run time. The Green Fuse established Jon Hopper as a pop rock artist with a flair for nostalgic influence. Instrumentally, his music is heavily driven by piano and synth style music.

The very next month, Hopper released a new single, Ghost. Then, in May, he collaborated with another UK independent artist, Dame Fawn Denier, as they covered the song Losing my Mind. Now, Hopper is back with another single, Beach, which is being released as an A/B single with Ghost being featured on the B Side.

Beach

Beach released today, June 3rd and runs at 4 minutes and 49 seconds. Including Ghost, the entire A/B single runs just over 9 minutes. Beach showcases Hopper’s capabilities as a multi-instrumentalist. It features piano, synth, synth bass guitar, and programmed percussion. Vocally, he performs lead and backing vocals. It is mid tempo to up tempo. The verse is highlighted by a recurring theme played on the piano. It is more atmospheric and maybe suggests a touch of a melancholic tone, before the chorus provides a much more driving and positive energy.

As I often do, when I review music from an artist who I’ve reviewed before, I go back and listen to the work and read the old review. I find that, sometimes my headspace is a little bit different than it was at the time I listened before and sometimes I hear things differently, or I read something that I either missed or picked up on and I have a different sense of it now. For instance, I had forgotten the comparisons I had made in the previous review. As I listened to Beach, I kept thinking to myself, “This sounds like Bowie.” In fact, I went right to the song The London Boys. Not the early recording, but the version that is on the album, Toy (Toy:Box). There is a striking similarity in the vocal performance. I went back to the old review and as I was reading through, I laughed. There it was: Bowie.

238. Album Review of The Green Fuse by Jon Hopper

Whatever I picked up on then is still there now. Now, there can only have been one David Bowie. He was a one-of-a-kind artist and there will never be another just like him. Additionally, Jon Hopper’s music is more than capable of standing on it’s own two metaphorical feet. As the late Kobe Bryant once said, “I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan. I want to be the first Kobe Bryant.” That being said, there are far worse artists one can be compared to.

Hopper has this bright tenor voice with an ever so slight “weathered” quality to it (it’s what happens to men of our age). Along with the accompaniment, it sets an inspiring tone, as it completes the piece magnificently. This also applies to Ghost, which is more of a ballad. More of a minimalist accompaniment, Hopper shines on the piano on this song. With the programmed percussion and vocoder vocal support, I also hear a bit of the Ghost Stories era of Coldplay, musically speaking.

The most important thing to note here is Jon Hopper is a wonderful talent. He has a great ear for a good song and how to make it truly pop. As good as he is as a performer and songwriter, I am really impressed with his production skills. He is a very capable engineer. Operating on a relatively simple rig, he is producing some high quality stuff. His music is refreshing to hear. I’ve enjoyed every single song I’ve heard. I love that he includes the subtle imperfections in his music, whether it was a mistake that was missed, a happy accident that he liked and chose to leave in the song, or intentionally hitting a dissonant chord in the song. It gives the song personality, it gives it a human touch, and most importantly, it sounds amazing.

This is now the second single in just a few months after his debut LP. I don’t know if this means there is another album on the way, an EP, or if there is simply a collection of songs that didn’t make the album that Hopper feels deserves their own release. No matter the reason, I’m here for it.

Go press play!