Master sonic architect Tim Hecker returns to Kranky with an album which takes inspiration from conversations with a recently departed buddy. 'Konoyo' was mostly recorded in a Japanese temple just outside Tokyo in collaboration with gagaku ensemble Tokyo Gakuso. Hecker manipulates their source sounds (strings, woodwinds, percussion) and re-shapes and sculpts the raw material into his own vision, focussing on negative space. The resulting sombre mood has a ritual/ceremonial weight - as though he were channelling communications from the great beyond.