I Break Horses: Hearts – review

The title may be misleading: if there are hearts on this stirring debut they're the blood-racing, pulse-quickening kind rather than any idly-doodled kitsch. Stockholm's Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck make heady, sumptuously textured soundscapes that pulse with feeling. They also wear their musical crushes on their sleeve: the middle section of the propulsive, shimmering "Wired", for example, sounds like an alternative version of M83's "Couleurs". But unlike some of their shoegaze-revivalist contemporaries, there is real weight beneath the surface lustre. The slow-building "I Kill Your Love, Baby!", which does indeed begin with the sound of heartbeats, is just exquisite.