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Watch Tim Hecker’s Mesmerizing ‘Black Refraction’

tim hecker, black refraction, video, virgins

Tim Hecker’s upcoming seventh album is preoccupied with purity. First, there’s the title: Virgins. Then, there’s the sound, which melds Hecker’s unique brand of ambient abstraction with “restrained composition recorded live,” as per a press release. Now, there’s the official video for “Black Refraction” — a hazy short that takes place in some kind of church. The specifics aren’t there since the picture is fuzzed-out and overexposed, but it is clear that there’s a group of people worshipping, watching what looks like a smoke-filled urn swing back and forth over the sacred space. Created by artist Sabrina Ratté, the video moves in synch with Hecker’s song: When the hypnotic piano repeatedly fades out and then cuts back in, the visuals do the same, looking increasingly warped and burnt with each flash.

Watch the piece above, stream “Virginal II” for another look at Virgins, and pre-order the LP via iTunes. Due October 14, it’s one of SPIN’s 50 Fall Albums That You Gotta Hear.