Many people criticized shoegaze in the early 90’s. They dubbed it a non-genre. A press fabricated buzzword for a particular sect of indie-rock. Who could blame them much originally? With such vulgarly vague description of “having musicians who stare at their shoes”. But beautiful flowers grow from even the most foul manure. Bands like Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain began to shape a genre around what was initially shallow hype.

Make what you want of it there’s no denying it’s presence. With My Bloody Valentine’s genre defining Loveless held in such great critical regard, and a wave of acts, such as Amusement Parks on Fire, M83 and Low Sea, taking a page from their books to this day. It’s definitely not the passing fad it was once thought to be. Which brings us on to Swedish duo I Break Horses.

Rooted in Stockholm, I Break Horses is a labour of love, and that definitely can be heard in their debut single Hearts. It’s depth is unfathomable. Many modern shoegaze bands get lost in trying to be the expected, and the product is often a soft whimper of distortion and reverb. IBH let these preconceptions go and what results is a heavy roar. “Wall of sound” is not longer a descriptor, but a place. A border protecting the fragile melodies and whisper-soft vocals.

Recorded over the past 3 years in windows of spare time, Maria Lindén and Fredrick Balck have crafted their debut, Lay your cold hand down on my hardest vein (‘Cancer’), which drops next month on Bella Union. If you’re as impatient as I you can pick up debut single Hearts from next Monday. In the meantime enjoy the offerings below and read up on I Break Horses here.