Tim Hecker - Konoyo

Tim Hecker is a Canadian Electronic, Ambient and Drone artist who's been at it now for quite some time.  Ever since I heard his 2001 debut "Haunt Me", I was so intrigued with Tim's work. This album was beautifully produced, despite it being so cold and often barren sounding.  There were tons of woozy synths and desolate drones.  Not to mention, every instrumental just seemed to have such a personality.   But shortly after he released this stunning debut, Tim underwhelmed me a little with his next album "Radio Amor".  This was a decent Experimental album.  But it seemed so unfocused and genuinely strange compared to the undeniable statement that was his debut.  However, I did start to get back into Tim's work with "Mirages".  While this album was still far from the rich, textured Ambient and Drone material he began his career yet.  But this album was just so mysterious and truly twisted sounding.  Even just looking at the cover was so unsettling.  For the more experimental side of Tim's work, this was gold.  But it was with 2006's "Harmony In Ultraviolet" that I really started calling myself a fan.  This took the more freakish, glitchy moments of Tim's recent output and paired it up with some of the Ambient and unbelievably textured Experimental music that Tim started his career with.  The result was incredibly mysterious and had so much attention to detail that you could literally study it for hours and still have plenty to dissect.  By the time "An Imaginary Country" rolled along, Tim was on a great roll.  This album continued to bring in tons of brilliant studio tricks that were pretty mind-boggling. And while this album wasn't as flooring as his last, you could tell Tim was going for bigger and better things, bringing in more drones and even more experimental passages.  But then things got really interesting.  With the release of 2011's "Ravedeath 1972" and 2013's "Virgins", Tim ran far out in front of all of his contemporaries.  Both of these albums were massive, hulking ambient masterpieces, fueled by hypnotizing drones and stunning experimental passages.  The fact that the material here was coming from one person was absolutely stunning, and if you're new to any of these genres Tim works with I would strongly suggest starting here. In 2016 Tim returned with the much more electronic "Love Streams" album.  And honestly, it's not terrible, and to an extent, it's even very spiritual in parts. However, that "wow" factor from earlier Tim releases certainly isn't in sight.   Tim's back after a few years, drifting back to his usual, mysterious sound.  And for the most part, doesn't sound bad at all.  Let's talk about this new Tim Hecker album!

This album starts off with “This life”, which is easily one of the most immediate starts for Tim.  He’s built an entire career on making these very long winded and perplexing monoliths that demand patience.  But this one is mysterious right off that bat, with tons of ghoulish instrumentals that seem so pained.  It’s honestly really eye-opening, and can easily go toe to toe with his more abrasive and eclectic work.  Like, this is out there, because I’ve always seen Tim’s work as standalone and in its own genre.  But with this, I actually really wouldn’t mind hearing Tim do some more soundtrack work.  This one keeps you on the edge of your seat, even with the ever constant synths wailing all around.  And even though this still remains very subtle, even for Tim’s standards, this one is wildly alive.  “This life” is one hell of a return to form for Tim. Now, for those of you that are used to hearing Tim much more alive and on his experimental side, “In Death Valley” is absolutely more up your alley.  Here is where the entire concept of this album actually comes through in a big way.  Here, Tim takes a lot of the world’s older instruments and has them playing along very modern synths and drones.  And the result is actually pretty stunning as you would expect.  If you’re looking for catchy and instantly memorable material, well you probably shouldn’t be here, to begin with.  But this is some challenging and seriously engaging Ambient and Drone music for the ages.  Now I honestly would have liked to hear this track pushed a little further, may be drawn out some more, because it may come off as rushed a little bit, especially compared to the album’s intro.  But Tim has certainly got back in the groove of what he does best, and the final moments of this track are just so euphoric it’s wild.  “s a rose petal of the dying crimson light” on the other hand is much more stripped down, practically in the wheelhouse of Nils Frahm.  I love the delicate pianos and other instruments, with those wailing and stark synths in the background seemingly ready to pounce at any moment.  This takes me back to the days of “Harmony in Ultraviolet” where Tim was easily at his most mysterious.  This is by far the shortest tune here, but it reels you in wonderfully and brings me back to a simpler time for Tim.  Then we have “Keyed Out” which absolutely wasters no time at all diving into these very dense, dramatic drones.  This one is easily one of the vastest sounding tunes here with seemingly endless layers of instruments that seem to be full of life.  And honestly, this is exactly where I love hearing Tim the most.  But while this is much more in Tim’s wheelhouse, I still find myself sitting on the edge of my seat.  It’s such a suspenseful tune and is packed with a ton of drama.  The instrumentals here just seem so foreign, so other-worldly, they don’t sound like they were played by anyone in this galaxy.  But if just add’s to this very intense atmosphere, where Tim brings to the table some very familiar instruments but presents them in a not so familiar way.  It’s stunning.  Obviously, at over 9-minutes, this takes some patience but it’s worth it, and often this euphoric ending will have you blown away. 

On the other hand, “In mother earth phase” seems completely out of Tim’s wheelhouse.  The instrumental is still just so alive and constantly moving, while in itself is wowing still.  But here, this completely lacks the sense of mystery and atmosphere of almost every other track here.  It’s weird, Tim’s tracks have usually been on the slower side but always pay off.  And here, we instantly get a lot of wild strings and genuinely interesting instrumentals.  But I feel like this one could have been more interesting if Tim structured this one differently and gave us a little more to look forward to.  However, I do like the abrasiveness of this that returns to the days of his “Ravedeath 1972” album.  Meanwhile this track halfway through switches up entirely and becomes this much more Ambient piece with these mysterious keyboards and all.  And honestly, THAT is much more stunning and just as immediate.  As a matter of fact, this entire album is much more immediate.  I’m still on the fence with this track though sadly.  But then “A sodium codec haze” is absolutely gorgeous from the first notes.  Like, I’m really not used to Tim’s material being THIS beautiful THIS immediate.  But my goodness, this is absolutely stunning.  The soaring keyboards and the wailing synths all piling up constantly one on top of the other is absolutely jaw-dropping.  It’s what I originally loved about Tim’s material, but magnified and so much more breathtaking.  Not to mention, everything just comes off so graceful and sweet, even if there is a gigantic sinister vibe deep down.  I don’t know where Tim found this sound, but it’s beautiful.  This album ends off with “Across to Anoyo”.   Now, this is totally different for this album, and honestly, it seems a little out of place.  This has been a very direct album.  But we’re a minute in here and Tim is taking his time so much.  I mean, I don’t have a problem with this shot out of left field, cause that’s exactly what this is.  But why does this feel like it’s just so out of place?  It has a ton of very tense passages, I give Tim that.  But even outside of that, why does this seem like it was recorded at a different time.  Sure, some of the strange playing and unique instruments carry over.  But this has been a very straightforward direction for the last 45 minutes, why is he switching it up now?  It just comes off unfocused, it’s not flooring or wild. It’s not until over 5-minutes in where things actually start to shape up for Tim.  Some of the Drone’s sound much more up to snuff and the synths are much bolder.  And from there on out, things are average.  This just isn’t the ending I wanted to hear. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Give A Listen To: “This life”, “Is a rose petal of the dying crimson light”, “Keyed out”, "A sodium codec haze”

Least Favorite Track: "In mother earth phase”

Genre: Experimental / Ambient / Dark Ambient / Drone / Electronic

Overall Thoughts:  For those disappointed with Tim’s last work and thought it was a little too far from what made him so incredible, to begin with, this is certainly a return to form.  There’s a ton of great Drone bits and some incredible Ambient sections.  Not to mention, Tim’s good vs old approach to instrumentals is certainly fascinating.  However, I do wish Tim worked with more tracks that played off each other.  Not to mention, this is Tim’s most immediate release to date, which sometimes is brilliant but sometimes is genuinely awkward.