Progressive Breaks

Progressive breaks is a subgenre of breakbeat that fuses the broken rhythms of breaks with the melodic, atmospheric and long-form methods of progressive house and trance. Tracks are built from syncopated drum loops, deep basslines and extended synthesizer pads, washes and lead melodies, heavily treated with reverb and delay, and are usually instrumental or use only fragments of treated voice. Where nu-skool breaks emphasises aggression, progressive breaks pursues emotional sweep and gradual transformation, arranging builds, breakdowns and climaxes over extended running times. Its representative acts include *Hybrid*, *BT* and *Way Out West*, emerging from the British and international progressive dance scene of the late 1990s and 2000s.