Love Streams is the eighth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on April 8, 2016 on 4AD and Paper Bag Records. The album was recorded throughout 2014 and 2015 at Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavík, Iceland, where parts of Hecker's last two albums Virgins (2013) and Ravedeath, 1972 (2011) were recorded.
Background and recording The album features Kara-Lis Coverdale and Grímur Helgason, who were both collaborators on Hecker's last album Virgins, as well as contributions from the Icelandic Choir Ensemble, whose vocal arrangements were scored by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Hecker professed to having thought about ideas like "liturgical aesthetics after Yeezus" and the "transcendental voice in the age of auto-tune" during its creation.
Critical reception
Love Streams received universal acclaim from critics. On the aggregate score site Metacritic, the album scored at 82 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Pitchfork wrote that "Love Streams marks a subtle shift in Tim Hecker's habitual style, a pivot away from his hazy trademark." PopMatters gave the album nine stars out of ten, stating that "Love Streams is at once familiar and totally alien; a work of art that reminds us why we need art in the first place."
Accolades Publication Accolade Year Rank Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016 Pitchfork The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016 2016 The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016 2016 Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
Track listing
Personnel Jóhann Jóhannsson – choral arrangement Icelandic Choir Ensemble – choir Owen Roberts – choir conductor Ben Frost – studio engineering, additional choral production Kara-Lis Coverdale – keyboards Paul Corley – additional mixing Grímur Helgason – woodwind
Charts Chart (2016) Peak position
References