Chiaroscuro
Swedish electronic duo I Break Horses' sophomore LP Chiaroscuro finds a band deliberatly slowing down and simplifying their sound. But for all this reduction, I Break Horses are left with little that they can call their own.
The Swedish outfit move into more immediate synthpop territory on this startling record of light and dark.
After releasing a debut album that was a winning mix of warm shoegaze guitar textures, cold-hearted synths, and Maria Lindén's beguiling vocals, I Break Horses' second album, Chiaroscuro, discards any traces of guitars and fully embraces the electronics.
Chiaroscuro: the technique of managing light and dark in pictorial art. As titles go, this one’s a statement of intent with substance and weight. This second album from these pioneering Swedes reads like a chill rebuke to the horde of boy/girl electro duos currently making waves, if not inroads. At every turn, they unseat expectations: Maria Linden's vocals buried somewhere in the distance; the brittle nu-rave warp of Faith tussling with the hyper balladry of Denial; the glassy, swirling mix (shades of Vangelis and Donnagio) pricked by astringent, fractured sounds.
The follow-up to Swedish duo I Break Horses' 2012 debut Hearts finds chief songwriter and vocalist Maria Lindén deeply entrenched in expansive synthetics and, as the fits-like-a-glove title suggests, plays heavily with the idea of contrasts.
<p>Maria Lindén's synth-pop is stylishly conceived but too often fails to engage, writes <strong>Phil Mongredien</strong></p>
Review of "Chiaroscuro" By 'I Break Horses'. The latest album from the Swedish band comes out January 21 on Bella union + Pias .The First single is "faith".
Maria Linden's second album is weighed down by over-complicated arrangements, but its peppier moments have a lot of appeal, writes <strong>Maddy Costa</strong>