Album Review: I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro

Sweden's I Break Horses returns with Chiaroscuro, a synth-driven record that is a very different animal to 2011's largely instrumental debut Hearts. Maria Lindén, the project's leader, has steered the group away from shoegaze while maintaining their sense of scope and drama. Vivid passages of warped and fractured synth-lines hover over icy rhythm sequences. The ghosts of pop melodies haunt certain sections before the record becomes a sombre and gorgeous vision of sci-fi dystopia. The switch is effective and Chiaroscuro really takes flight when the band sheds its glossier trappings and commits to moody atmospherics.