Love Streams

Avant-noise artist Tim Hecker brings an intentional lightness to Love Streams, exploring classical and choral-style composition with an electronic producer’s sensibilities. A repetitive, Reich-ian riff of brittle synths opens “Obsidian Counterpoint” before it’s interrupted by a flourish of woodwinds—but its gauzy finale sounds like notes hitting a paper shredder. On “Music of the Air,” a playful cacophony of voices ends up struggling to breathe above a flood of frayed synthesizers. It’s that elevated push-pull between light and dark that gives Love Streams its epic tension, making for a gorgeously melancholy listen that's both ethereal and abrasive.