El Perro Del Mar - i can't talk about it, 2006

El Perro del Mar · I Can't Talk About It

"El Perro del Mar is the second album by Swedish musician Sarah Assbring, a.k.a. El Perro del Mar. It was first released in Sweden on 10 April 2006 by Hybris Records, in Europe by Memphis Industries, in Australasia on 6 November 2006 by Rogue Records, and in the United States on 7 November 2006 by The Control Group. The album is a revised version of her 2005 compilation Look! It's El Perro del Mar!."

El Perro Del Mar - it's all good, 2006

"With a voice that wavers between Jane Birkin's and Neil Young's, Swede Sarah Assbring, or El Perro del Mar as she calls herself, writes of hope and loneliness, sometimes at the same time. Cleary influenced by Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector, El Perro del Mar sings a kind of indie doo wop, bringing together syllabic backing harmonies ("sha-la-la-la," "shooby doo-wop bah," and "be-bop a loo-lah" are some of the phrases she uses throughout the album), poppy melodies, simple vocal lines, acoustic guitars, and twinkling pianos on her self-titled full-length. But despite these brighter, happier elements that envelop her music, Assbring has a kind of despair in her voice that veils even the most cheerful of her songs in sadness. "It's All Good," in which she echoes variations of "it's all good, take a new road and never look back" throughout the entire piece, even in its optimism, conveys the sense that at one point things in fact were not good at all, even though they might be changing, and the breezy warmth of "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)" is more of a criticism of herself for "taking a lot without giving back" than advice regarding the benefits of altruism."

El Perro Del Mar - do not despair, 2008

"Assbring handles the production chores with a gentle and caring touch, mostly forsaking the chamber pop sound she previously utilized for a sparser, more delicate sound, though she can still create miniature symphonies with ease when the song calls for it. With the production, the songs, and above all her amazing vocal persona, Assbring and El Perro del Mar create a world of their own here. It's not a world for everyone - you need a hearty soul to survive - but if you can hack it, From the Valley to the Stars is a fairly magical trip to the center of heartache."

El Perro Del Mar - kiss of death, 2024

"I think of the album as a journey into the Underworld and back. "Kiss of Death" is about returning to the world of the living, scarred but with the insight of how close death is. Loss is a scar. We should carry it with us; not as a threat but as a promise of making the most of the time we’re here."

El Perro Del Mar - candy, 2006

"Sarah Assbring is effortless, not just with her ongoing relationship with music—or even when she walked down the runway for Balenciaga—but in the small intimacies of her everyday life. In Assbring’s world, she takes the good with the bad, and through both, only sees beauty. Creating under the alias of El Perro Del Mar, the Swedish indie pop star has released multiple albums, which all exist in their own respective space, giving way to Assbring’s wide spectrum of references. And while her sound is airy and light, she admits that it doesn’t come without intensive, and somewhat cyclical, emotional labor. “I always end up at that moment where I have to deconstruct everything and fall to the floor, and really ask myself, 'Why do I do this? Is it worth it?' Then I end up having that bare, raw, naked reason where I know, “yes this is the place, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

El Perro Del Mar - let me in, 2009

"That's an old story by now, but for some reason, it still means a lot to me. It's strange that it still does, but somehow I was right when I decided to use it. It came about during a time in my life when I was quite lost and had an existential and creative crisis. I was aimlessly trying to get away somewhere, and I happened to go to a Spanish island — and not in a romantic way at all, because I was really at a loss, and I really just had to flee somewhere. I ended up sitting by the ocean and staring out in the blue and just wondering, basically, what I was going to do with my life."

El Perro Del Mar - how did we forget, 2008

"As we recall from high school Spanish class, El Perro Del Mar translates to “the dog of the sea” and sounds like it should be a quartet of jolly Mexican mariachis, but is actually comprised solely of the the lovely platinum blonde Swede Sarah Assbring. This tune sounds like it’s coming to you on a very old radio, wafting in from another room where it’s been playing all along. There is a timeless quality to the music – the coy bittersweetness of the blues, modern Swedish ambience, and moments where it feels like a gentle lullaby. From The Valley To The Stars is due tomorrow on fellow Swedes The Concretes‘ label Licking Fingers."

El Perro Del Mar - somebody's baby, 2008

"At first listen, From the Valley plays like the musical backdrop to a picturesque snow-topped village, the kind of whimsical setting where ponies pull sleighs and little girls in tam hats carry oversized lollipops. Except there’s something slightly off about this otherwise storybook scene, something just below the surface—a moodiness or an impish patter. Consider the opening track “Jubilee,” which is essentially a one-word song, a celebratory tune if the title is any indication; perhaps it’s the pulsating organs or Assbring’s choirgirl harmonization, or the combination of the two that creates a spooky sound effect. For whatever reason, the result is less festive than it is peculiar (in a positive way)."

El Perro Del Mar - l is for love, 2009

"Death, taxes, and life's other inevitability: break-up records. Sad-eyed Swede Sarah Assbring already has one under her belt, if you count 2005 Scandinavian release Look! It's El Perro Del Mar! (later refashioned with a slightly different tracklisting in the UK and North America as the self-titled El Perro Del Mar). But that's the thing about break-ups and, by extension, break-up records: At the time each feels like a cataclysm to end all cataclysms, the definitive statement on cessation. Yet in light of the next one-- and, God help us, chances are there will be a next one-- all the ones before can seem quaint, trite, overblown, and anything but definitive. So it makes sense that Assbring should craft another ode to getting over it, just as it makes a certain sad kind of sense that the gal who sang of being sad all day long (and thinking about being sad all night long) and suggested loneliness can be pretty would again find herself in a position to make such a record. Refreshingly, Love Is Not Pop does indeed make what came before it seem quaint, representing a significant maturation for El Perro Del Mar both in sonics and sentiments. If Look!/ El Perro Del Mar was Assbring rebounding from a failed high school romance to the tune of a candy bender and the familiar, comforting sounds of 1960s pop music, Love documents a more complicated, post-collegiate parting of ways against the more sophisticated sounds of late nights and dancefloors, courtesy of co-producer (and Studio half) Rasmus Hägg."

El Perro Del Mar - coming down the hill, 2006

“a song about coming home”

El Perro Del Mar - here comes that feeling cover, 2006

"Here Comes That Feeling" is a song written by Dorsey Burnette and Joe Osborne and performed by Brenda Lee. The song reached No.5 in the UK and No.89 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962. The also song reached No. 40 in Australia."

El Perro Del Mar - god knows you gotta give to get live, 2006

"Going in a crazy, different musical direction, I heard this song on a recent tv show and found it to be the lovely addition and twist to my Mood Monday. It strikes the message I need to reflect on and act on. This song spoke to me today and now maybe I can clear my head and move forward."

El Perro Del Mar - do the dog, 2006

"there are those moments, perhaps in a burst of joy or a surge of self-discovery, where we find ourselves doing the 'Dog' — a metaphorical dance, maybe, where we embrace both the social butterfly and the solitary wanderer within us. It's a dance of being human, of recognizing our need for both connection and personal space, and of celebrating that duality with a carefree spirit"

El Perro Del Mar - people, 2006

"Sarah Assbring, the sole member of Swedish musical project El Perro del Mar, doesn’t shy away from darkness. Rather, it intrigues and soothes her — especially in the form of music. She describes melancholic sound as a place to go to, for relief and respite, and perhaps, spiritual salvation. While each of Assbring’s enigmatic albums have showcased shapeshifting new sounds, the throughline has always remained an incredibly analytical air of melancholia. There are no tropes in the work of El Perro del Mar — no sense of sorrow just to be sorrowful."

El Perro Del Mar - dog, 2006

“I am from Sweden and I received my musical calling when I was five-years-old. Although I don’t come from a musical background music was always very present in my home. I started writing songs when I was seven! My outfit name El Perro Del Mar [Spanish for the dog from the sea] came to me on a beach somewhere in Spain. It was during a crucial time in my life and this stray dog just walked up to me. There was just something very special about that moment and when I started to properly write music again, soon after, it felt very natural to name it after that meeting."

El Perro Del Mar - wipe me off this earth, 2024

“As the feelings of grief and loss wear off, you enter another realm of guilt. The guilt of not mourning enough, of going on living though someone’s gone. This song is about the ghost not accepting that it’s dead. I realised I was actually thinking like this which made it increasingly difficult to move on. I’d stayed on with the dead. I think it’s a common thing and it’s such a dark place to be in. You can’t really reason with the dead. That’s something I’ve come to understand.”

El Perro Del Mar - god knows you gotta give to get, 2006

"Julie Burchill once described St Etienne's nostalgic pop as the aural equivalent of "a perfect 60s girl jumping ceaselessly in slow-mo into the perfect MG". Fitting that description even better is El Perro Del Mar, the alter-ego of Swedish singer-songwriter Sarah Assbring. Looking like Jean Seberg and sounding like a softer Nico, El Perro sings of loss and longing against walls of majestic sound; every twist and turn of gentle narratives with titles like Party and People aches with romance and sadness."