I Break Horses - Warnings (2020) [Hi-Res]

If I break horses's third album holds you in its grip like a great film, it's no coincidence. Faced with making the follow-up to 2014's plush chiaroscuro, horses's Maria linden decided to take the time to make something different, with an emphasis on instrumental, cinematic music. As she watched a collection of favourite films on her computer (sound muted) and made her own soundtrack sketches, these sonic workouts gradually evolved into something more: "it wasn't until I felt an urge to add vocals and lyrics," says linden, "that I realized I was making a new I break Horses album." that album is warnings, an intimate and sublimely expansive return that, as its recording suggests, sets its own pace with the intuitive power of a much-loved movie. And, as its title suggests, its sumptuous sound worlds - dreamy Mellotron, haunting loops, analogue synths - and layered lyrics crackle with immersive dramatic tensions on many levels. "It's not a political album," says linden, "though it E to the alarmist times we live in. Each song is a subtle warning of something not being quite right.".