North Water [Original Score]

Tim Hecker's first original score was written for a five-part miniseries that centers around an Arctic whaling expedition, adapted from a 2016 novel by Ian McGuire. The show's producers couldn't have made a better decision when they hired Hecker to score the series, because his style fits perfectly with its premise. The music was recorded in multiple sessions with different musicians, and it draws from Hecker's usual palette of treated acoustic instruments and processed electronic drones. Eerie melodies surface among hazy clouds of distorted synths and bent notes, and it all flows like the rough push and pull of an unforgiving tide. Hecker does a brilliant job at replicating the uneasy tilt of a ship on rocky seas. There are parts where percussion throbs slightly out of time or the melodies seem a bit erratic, and it's all executed with precision so that it sounds a bit jarring, but not sloppy. On tracks like "Our First Whale," "The Warmth of Drax," and the gentle, guitar-based "A Breather," Hecker manages to create strange swerving and swooping noises that imitate whale calls, and it's hard to imagine the score succeeding without them. The atmosphere isn't just frigid and bleak either, as pieces like "It's a Mistake to Think Too Much" contain tender, sparkling melodies that signal beacons of hope in this long, perilous journey. "Twinkle in the Wasteland" is a particularly stunning combo of deep, diving cello arcs and distant, glimmering notes. The entire score is rich and inventive, and it manages to be one of Hecker's more accessible albums without altering or toning down his style in any way. ~ Paul Simpson