I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro

I Break Horses
Chiaroscuro
21 January 2014
Bella Union

3 stars out of 5

 

Chiaroscuro, the second LP from Stockholm’s electro-shoegaze duo I Break Horses, is not quite the exercise in contrasts that one might expect from the album’s title. While there are contrasts to be found if one searches—songs with beats vs songs without beats; songs that sound like Bat for Lashes vs songs that don’t (or, at least, that sound less so)—the album is fairly unified in its composition and textures. Unfortunately, it’s not always unified in its ability to keep your attention.

“You Burn” starts things off, sounding a bit like The Knife (sorry for stating the obvious) paying tribute to Birds of Passage-era Bel Canto. Trust me, this is a good thing. “Faith” is more of a new wave electro-pop tune, though singer Maria Lindén seems more comfortable hiding behind her vocal effects rather than stepping out and engaging the listener directly. After these two opening tracks the album loses a bit of momentum. “Ascension” and “Denial” would qualify as what used to be known in the music business as “filler.” Things get more interesting with “Berceuse,” an exercise in minimalist understatement that ultimately finds a very beautiful climax. “Medicine Brush” finds the duo experimenting further with downtempo dark electro. I Break Horses are at their best on tracks like this, when they’re not in a hurry to get to the chorus, instead concentrating on the textured shapes in the darkness.

“Disclosure” and “Weigh True Words” see I Break Horses painting by numbers again, though in both cases the results are quite lovely, just not as interesting as what came immediately before. The completely unnecessary “Heart to Know” takes some effort to listen to in its almost eight minutes’ entirety. This would be the time to go make a cup of tea, check your email (fifteen or twenty times), or just stop the record and move on to something else. Though the album has its moments, one wishes that it had more of them in place of the uninspired tracks that make up half the LP.

reviewed by Richard Krueger