Music Monday - I Break Horses
Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck are the duo behind I Break Horses. Hearts is their debut single and there's something haunting and beautiful about it. I really like the video too, directed by Alex Southam, it makes me want to go on a train ride across Scandinavia.
Residing in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, the duo have quietly been crafting the nine tracks that make up debut album Hearts throughout stolen moments gathered up over the past three years.
Songs were written, committed to tape, destroyed. The task of capturing the sonic density of Lindén’s compositions was painstaking. Balck’s lyrics constantly teasing the senses “Lay your cold hand down on my hardest vein” (‘Cancer’) are at times insular, cold to the touch. It’s only when interpreted by Maria’s effortless croon that a warmth is added, like the first rays of sun on a cold winters morning. A balancing act of light vs. dark that reveals a beauty within the darkness.
Perhaps one would think that the results of such endeavours would be somewhat disjointed, with the influences and experiences of 36 months being thrown into the mix, Hearts could almost come across as erratic, unfocused. Thankfully, it’s quite the opposite.
Enjoy watching and listening to Hearts. Looking forward to hearing more tracks from I Break Horses (their debut album will be released later this year).