The song "I'll Be The Death of You" is so epic and tremendous that it almost doesn't matter how good the rest of the new I Break Horses ablum is or isn't. The new record, Warnings, out today on Bella Union, is full of music with real sweep and power. But I defy anyone to not play "I'll Be the Death of You" over and over a bunch of times right away.
"Death Engine" sees Maria Lindén coo over electronic textures that swell and ebb, while "Silence" embraces the kind of melodic grace that one might associate with Saint Etienne in the late Nineties. Elsewhere, the epic "Turn" opens the album and carries a listener through a cascade of emotions, the heavy drums here anchoring things nicely, even as the more direct "Neon Lights" echoes Eighties synth-pop in an enthusiastic way and without a trace of irony.
While lots of Warning is lush and full of real symphonic flavor, some numbers, like the wonderfully-titled "Baby You Have Travelled For Miles Without Love In Your Eyes", suggest that, should she choose to, Linden could make far more accessible material. Thankfully she has not done that, and the broad soundscapes here are as expansive as those on an old Seafeel release, with all the easy-to-love vocal delights of a Goldfrapp one.
Warnings is out today via Bella Union.
More details on I Break Horses via the official website, or official Facebook page.
[Photo: Märta Thisner]