A Berliner busker introduced in 2001 by Infinite Love Songs, an album of downtempo beat-borne lullabies, Maximilian Hecker is now on album three, an affair that tickles the ivories more than tweaks the tempo. Downplaying programmed beats for lightly brushed piano and cello arrangements, Hecker has put together a much more sparse outing, one that moves at glacial pace. Hecker‘s key strength is his voice, a croon with reverent, hymn-like inflections that swoons across the breathy-to-constricted spectra of Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, and Thom Yorke. With Lady Sleep, Hecker shows much more in common with the longing of troubadours such as Antony & The Johnsons and Nick Drake than the shuffle of studio artists.