El Perro Del Mar: From The Valley To The Stars

Label: Control Group

From the Valley to the Stars, Sarah Assbring’s second album under the name El Perro del Mar, is an emotionally complex work. Assbring’s sensibility leads her to write organ-drenched, majestic pop songs which nonetheless have a constant starkness, imparting a feeling of pain and sorrow, to the proceedings. The album opens with “Jubilee”, in which Assbring solemnly intones the word “jubilation”, speaking more from hope than conscious experience. That sense of contrast carries the album well into its second half, where the sparse arrangements of the title track flow beautifully into the lush “Into the Sunshine”. Sixteen immersive songs, ranging in influence from folk to an almost sacred vibe at times.
(Toby)