A Swedish singer with a Spanish nom de plume might seem an unlikely combination, but given El Perro Del Mar’s effervescent textures, an international flair doesn’t necessarily enter into the equation. Inspired by a bonding encounter with a stray dog on a Spanish beach, Swedish chanteuse Sarah Assbring wisely chose an alternative handle (it means ‘The Dog of the Sea”) to cloak her nocturnal deliberations. Not that there’s need for a literal translation -- the songs are, by turns, shimmery and effusive, a sound that approximates cotton candy in terms of its substance and feel. For her part, Assbring… err, make that El Perro… possesses a pleasant pop approach, but inevitably her songs tend to sound pretty much alike, and on this, her third full-length album of all new material, the combination of ethereal atmospherics and a sprightly, percolating pulse makes one song practically indistinguishable from the next. The fact that three tracks - “L Is For Love,” “Change of Heart” and “Let Me In” -- are repeated in the guise of bonus remixes makes the sameness of the sound all the more glaring. Okay, maybe, as the title suggests, Love Is Not Pop, but if only it was always as consistent.
--Lee Zimmerman [October 18, 2009]
