When you think of the great 4AD acts, chances are its folks like Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Lush, Pixies, and This Mortal Coil who come to mind. However, I humbly submit that Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook’s 1987 collaboration ought to rank up there with the finest in 4AD’s catalog.

Working together, the former Clan of Xymox member and the Canadian producer and guitarist — whose own Infinite Guitar would be used by The Edge on The Joshua Tree that same year — would create Sleeps with the Fishes, a lush and evocative album that’s by turns melancholy, intimate, and contemplative.

“Searching” is perhaps the closest thing the album has to a single, with Nooten’s solemn vocals intoning cryptic lyrics (“Hear our thoughts, hear how they play/A long forgotten tune”) over subdued synth programming and pensive strings while Brook’s elegant guitar arches high overhead.