The distortion and fluttering melodies that marked RADIO AMOR, some of Tim Hecker's best work, make a welcome appearance here on MIRAGES. As a whole, however, MIRAGES also feels slightly less focused than its predecessor. Indeed, the opening track, "Acephale" is almost all shaped distortion before the jittery pianos and backgrounded phone directory of "Neither More Nor Less" emerge. The haunting thrumming continues in "Celestina," but tonal ambience seems to be the focus elsewhere. The sustained sounds of "Aerial Light-Polltion Orange" merges the two in the glow of streetlamps, while "Kaito" stumbles in and out of rhythmical patterns. The final track, "Incurably Optimistic!," with its careful organ, is more contemplative than optimistic, and beautiful nonetheless.

If you were a fan of Tim Hecker's earlier works, you'll certainly enjoy this. Swelling granular tones tickled by light distortion create some truly amazing implied melodies, textured by the sounds of voices having travelled long distances (whether by wire or radio frequencies)... Awesome!