"Enthralling folk-pop from Gothenburg, Sweden. Everything about Sarah Assbring is intriguing, from her promotional photographs - prim school ma'am with a Chihuahua perched on her knee - to her brittle marriage of 60's g... more »irl-group sounds with muted tones. Four stars" - Uncut. "A minimal Phil Spector sound. Unique and magical" - The London Times. "Heartbreak and loneliness have never been so beautiful" - Word Mag.« less
"Enthralling folk-pop from Gothenburg, Sweden. Everything about Sarah Assbring is intriguing, from her promotional photographs - prim school ma'am with a Chihuahua perched on her knee - to her brittle marriage of 60's girl-group sounds with muted tones. Four stars" - Uncut. "A minimal Phil Spector sound. Unique and magical" - The London Times. "Heartbreak and loneliness have never been so beautiful" - Word Mag.
"El Perro Del Mar's cd is one of the better albums to come out in this genre, maybe any genre, in a while. It's quirky, soulful and feels meaningful. It's off-kilter, definitely, but that's apart of her droning, somberly energetic vibes. I would recommend this to anyone, regardless of what musical faction they were most tightly bound to. Some of the best songs are People, Dog and Candy."
Agree with a little of both reviews
Christopher | 03/13/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The lyrics are terrible and repetitive that is true, but her voice is haunting and the music is gorgeous. If you zone out to it you don't mind that she repeats one to two sentences per song. If she teamed up with Jens Lekmann (another swede who she has done a split ep with) who is a great lyricist but terribly lazy at production (more than half his songs sound unfinished (the ones that sound finished though are amazing)) that. now that would be something pretty darn good. I imagine a better Concretes from that combo."
Just wonderful
giovanni | Greece | 05/03/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A one-woman band , El Perro Del Mar's self-tittled debut is a collection of Sarah Assbring's fragile lullabies and uplifting pop gems . There's a wounded beautty in this woman's voice . On " People " she sounds like a little child who just had a fight with her best friend while on "This Loneliness " you just wanna hug her and tell her everything will be alright always . The gift for melody doesn't abandon her on the quick-tempo tracks either with " God Knows ( You Gotta Give To Get ) " and " I Can't talk about it " being a particular treat! This is classy , well-crafted sweet sweet sadness . Like Stina Nordenstam's " The World Is Saved " and Righteous Boy's " I Sing Because Of You " , this is another album by a swedish artist destined to became a largely unheard melancholic classic . Anyone reading this text should pick this one right up .
"
Pretty music
lovely lo | 10/03/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a member of Last.fm I get recommendations for new artists and she came up on the list. I listened to a few of the songs and was really just in awe of how pretty her voice is and how melodic the music becomes when they mix. It's really bringing back memories of early French pop.
I put this on now whenever I'm having a bad day or I just can't fall asleep. Her baby tone voice will soothe you. She is compared to being a melodic Jane Birkin, but to me it sounds a little bit like a mix of Francoise Hardy and France Gall, except in English.
Every song on this album is perfect but some key songs for me are: