- Brighton based band, Dark Horses are dividing opinions across the globe with their debut album, ‘Black Music.’ Their sound is reminiscent of 80’s goth/rock and shoegaze with very strong noir themes, saturated in distortion and reverb. Absent from this LP are the catchy guitar riffs and vocals that generally catapult fledgling bands into the limelight, however this doesn’t seem to have hindered Dark Horses.

After catching the attention of the likes of Kasabian, and Australia’s own, Tame Impala, the band have already played a string of successful tours, including opening for Kasabian at Wembley Stadium in the UK. Dark Horses also recently played a string of shows in Australia for the Harvest Music Festival in November.

Often on this album the only common element is the vocals of front-woman, Lisa Elle. Her powerful voice strings all of the narratives and sound experiments together throughout. Unfortunately she is often let down by the rest of the band, who just don’t seem to be able to keep up with her vocal capabilities as she swoons and croons about love, misery and anger in equally powerful measure.

The dark, noir, shoegaze of opening track, ‘Rose’ is poised and moody, with a heavy-handed bass line and gentle percussion. Right from the outset it is clear Black Music is all about anger and misery, a theme that remains constant in all of the songs.

The standout track by a long way is ‘Radio,’ Elle’s vocals ring out through the heavy reverb rather eerily and some sporadic tambourine sounds tie the song together.

‘Alone’ sheds some light on the depth and dark disposition of Elle, elegantly blending a monotone Joy Division beat with brooding lyrics. The bass driven, ‘Boxing Day’ uses intense drumming and synthesisers to create an almost catchy tune that erupts into a dreamlike chorus.

Elle reverts to her native tongue, Swedish, for ‘Sanningen On Mig,’ an almost punk ballad, drenched in melancholy and woe. The foreign nature of the lyrics forces the listener to look for clues in her tone rather than words, to reveal the emotions and narrative.

‘Cover Me’ features Tom Meighan of Kasabian, however probably the most surprising element of the album is a cover of Talking Head’s ‘Road To Nowhere.’ This track alone will certainly divide opinion, although it must be said that it really doesn’t add to the album very much.

Dark Horses struggle to stay on the interesting side of sombre gloominess and often end up straying into boring, mundane territory. After one full spin of Dark Music, it’s unlikely you’ll listen to it again beyond the first four tracks.

- Clare Armstrong.