Tim Hecker - No Highs

I’ve been super excited about the heckman’s new record for a while now. Hecker, who is I think the greatest “ambient” or sound artist of our time, has come off the back of some pretty explorative score work for the big and silver screen, and I was eager to see where he went next with a solo studio effort.

For a guy whose been exploring the edges and intricacies of sound for almost 25 years, he never fails to challenge your expectations and conceptions of who he is as an artist. No highs is no exception, as I feel this might be one of his most challenging works yet.

It’s hard to explain why this is because it’s hardly as challenging in a sonic sense when compared to a masterpiece like Virgins or the Japanese gagaku-inspired Konoyo. Although there’s still a solid physicality to his sound that I absolutely love and find wholly unique, the almost anti-ambient motivations behind this record (and Hecker more generally as an artist) are in full effect here. Many of the shorter pieces here will give you just a taste of texture, a glimpse into the heart of the track, but will wane before you ever grasp the full picture. Many of the longer pieces here will provide such a brief climax at the midway point that you’re wondering where it will go next, which is often nowhere at all.

I find this to be a purposeful effort from Hecker but also a purposefully frustrating one - you feel like you’re getting teased at something greater over and over again until you lose all hope in its direction and greater vision. With repeated listens, this is something I found much easier to grapple with, where the music’s riches shone through in its subtlety and negative space. Again with repeated listens, I found this record strangely provided comfort in its sense of foreboding, and while I haven’t peeled back all its layers yet, am enjoying it more when I let it all wash over me.

Withholding the striking and monolithic nature of some of his best works, this is Hecker at his most greyscale yet confronting, a demanding work that requires the same time and attention as any in his exquisite catalogue.

KEY TRACK: Lotus Light - the lead single and a perfect representation of what this album is, this track’s steady synthesizing pulse gives way to a plethora of wailing electronics, crying saxophones and cracking atonal textures. For a track that sets out on an already eerie atmosphere, things only get more uncomfortable when the eeriness lingers in the back half, never quite coming to a peak.