I Break Horses got buzz very early on thanks to perfect timing, coming on the airy electronica wave last year with debut full-length Hearts (QRO review) – they’re even Swedish, to boot. Hearts was certainly worthwhile, but not revelatory, and both of those trends continue with follow-up, Chiaroscuro.
Admittedly, Chiaroscuro is a more unified album that Hearts, right from the dark, haunting, foreboding you expected/were looking for in opener “You Burn”. I Break Horses still mix the dance and the haunt, with dance coming to the fore after “Burn” on “Faith”, “Ascension”, and “Denial”, before the slow scare moves in, culminating with long closer “Heart To Know”. The group can go a little overboard with the synths in dance (“Ascension”), and tech in shadows (“Berceuse”), but can also balance (like the nice synth-dance glow to “Denial”).
In 2012 I Break Horses opened for both M83 (QRO live review) and Sigur Rós (QRO live review), and can’t match those genre-defining artists. But they’ve definitely established themselves.
