Tim Hecker‘s 2013 album Virgins was a masterpiece of chaos composed of millions of granular parts all trying their best to cohere. For his followup, Love Streams, Hecker is promising something a little more soothing—”more melancholic, ultraviolet hues,” as FACT reports.
Love Streams, one of our Most Anticipated Albums of 2016, is Hecker’s first release on 4AD, and his first solo record not to be released on venerable experimental label Kranky since 2007. Whether the move to the home of Deerhunter, Grimes, and Beirut signals Hecker going pop (whatever that would even mean) remains to be seen.
The album was apparently inspired by the concept of transposing 15th Century choral scores to what the label calls “an artificial intelligence-era language of digital resonance and bright synths.” Such mixing of sacred antiquity and profane modernism is nothing new for Hecker—not for nothing was Virgins recorded in a church—but it sounds like the mood here is changed. If that doesn’t have you convinced, the album also apparently finds him exploring the idea of “liturgical aesthetics after Yeezus” and “transcendental voice in the age of auto-tune.” The album also features choral arrangements from Jóhann Jóhannsson, whose score for Sicario was recently nominated for an Oscar.
Of course, we still have no idea how any of this will actually sound, but you can take a look at the album’s (appropriately hued) cover and track list below, as well as a handful of dates at which Hecker will be presenting the album.
Love Streams track list
“Obsidian Counterpoint”
“Music of the Air”
“Bijie Dream”
“Live Leak Instrumental”
“Violet Monumental I”
“Violet Monumental II”
“Up Red Bull Creek”
“Castrati Stack”
“Voice Crack”
“Collapse Sonata”
“Black Phase”
Tim Hecker tour dates
April
7 – Los Angeles CA – Union
14 – New York NY – Warsaw
May
19–21 – Durham NC – Moog Festival
Love Streams is out April 8 via 4AD.
(via FACT)
