It’s been a slow six-year trot but I Break Horses, the project led by Swedish singer/songwriter Maria Lindén, are back with a new song and the promise of a new album. The band have shared “Death Engine,” a heavenly, nearly eight-minute opus. You can watch the self-made video for the song below or listen to full track here on Spotify. Warnings, the band’s third album, is due out May 8, 2020 via Bella Union.

I Break Horses first arrived on the scene in 2011 with their three-year-in-the-making debut, Hearts. Channeling My Bloody Valentine, the Cocteau Twins, and Slowdive, worshippers of the dream-pop genre hailed the band for their supremely blissed-out and richly textured soundscapes.

In 2014, the group followed up Hearts with Chiaroscuro. The sophomore record saw them experimenting and evolving their sonic vocabulary. The band incorporated dark electronic beats, and the album had more of a dance-pop vibe.

Now, the band is toning down the dance-pop and leaning into an instrumental, cinematic sound buoyed by dreamy mellotrons and haunting loops. “Death Engine,” which is co-written by Lindén and Fredrik Balck, is a spacious, hypnotic track. Its lyrics deal with today’s troubled youth. Lindén explains:

“The song, which was written in connection to a close friend’s suicide attempt, also reflects upon the increasing reports that suicide is the second leading cause of death among Generation Z, with this age group having more mental health issues than any other generation.”

Of the new LP, Warnings, Lindén remarks, “It’s not a political album, though it relates to the alarmist times we live in. Each song is a subtle warning of something not being quite right.”

It was a long arduous six-year journey to getting the album made, filled with fits and starts. It appears a crashed hard drive meant two years of work vanished. Ultimately, according to the press materials, Lindén is happy it was a slow process because it allowed the music to gestate. Also, she’s embracing a mix of longer songs and short instrumental interludes with this effort.

Warnings is available for pre-order at Bella Union’s website. You can check out the tracklist below.

Warnings Track Listing
1. Turn
2. Silence
3. l a r m
4. I’ll Be The Death Of You
5. d e n l i l l a p å s e a v l y c k a
6. The Prophet
7. Neon Lights
8. I Live At Night
9. Baby You Have Travelled For Miles Without Love In Your Eyes
10. Death Engine
11. a b s o l u t a m o l l p u n k t e n
12. Depression Tourist

Photo credit: Bella Union