Pale Fire

I never know what to expect with this artist, but I've never been disappointed. The bite-sized, orchestral eccentricities of 'From the Valley to the Stars' were followed quite soon by the open, electronic textures of 'Love Is Not Pop', a summer landscape of low key loss and yearning with a few bolt-on radio edits. These two conceptually very different earlier albums are now followed by one that yokes together echoes of both. 'Pale Fire', the title track, seems to define the essence of El Perro del Mar's unique creativity, one which is compelling and strong for being so laid back and understated. She has a voice you could shine a torch through (it is the colour of pale fire), and her musical arrangements carry it like warm, clear currents of water. It seems her songs have always been fluid introspections on love, loneliness, memory and a creative soul's inability to connect to any kind of universal fun. This album offers more of the same, and she clearly sticks to what she knows because she knows it all so well. My personal favourites on this CD are 'Walk On By' and 'Love in Vain' but there is so much to like. Unlike the last album she doesn't offer us any picture of herself on the cover - something I've always thought added to her inscrutability - but, creatively, the whole thing is so beautifully self-referential it doesn't really matter. You should buy this.

For her fourth album Sarah Assbring takes a swift turn in style but not in essence . Groovy synthesizers don't conceal what underneath , the wounded heart of this record and the songwriters' bittersweet explorations of love and ( always combined with) loneliness . Whenever i listen to an El Perro Del Mar record , what comes to my mind is a little child , sitting and crying at the corner because he/she just had a fight with his/her best friend . It does sound that vulnerable and truly innocent .Having just seen the artist live in Madrid , i was amazed at how she was dancing ( seemingly in her own private universe ) on the smokey stage , laying her soul bare to a small but not indifferent crowd ( there was not one poster in the whole town advertising the concert..someone should really fire her agent quick ! ).Highlights include " Hold Off The Down " , " Walk On By " and " Home Is To Feel Like That " .

Es un álbum tan bien trabajado que se convierte en una golosina apetecible para reescuchar una y otra vez. Pop Preciosista, folk minimalista, con alguna pincelada electrónica que da frescura al conjunto.

L'album est très différent du précédent.Assez déstabilisant, au départ, on apprécie ensuite cette évolution, plus "électro", plus moderne ?En tout cas, toujours le même plaisir de retrouver la voix

This is a bit of a change in direction for Sarah. While it is not quite "rocking out," this is definitely more uptempo and rhythmic than her previous efforts.More than anything else, this reminds me of the Suzanne Vega/DNA collaboration on "Tom's Diner." As with this reoord, the "Tom's Diner" remix combined a modern electronic instrumental track with folk-style vocals, creating something wholly fresh and original. Here, especially on songs like the sublime "Walk on By," or the title track "Pale Fire," that is exactly what has happened. Sarah's vocals sound just as poignant and touching as always, although her vocal style is more singing, rather than the half-sung, half-spoken style of her earlier work. But the instrumental track is faster, sleeker, club-friendly. Cognitive dissonance that works!This is a great record because it is wholly different from all other El Perro Del Mar material, yet it is still comfortingly familiar.

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