Sugary fem indie sadness.
El Perro Del Mar is the name that Swedish-born Sarah Assbring has been performing under for the past decade. This is a deluxe re-release of her debut album. All songs are medium-slow to mid-tempo, and generally involve lush string arrangements, bells, and Belle-and-Sebastian vibes… soaked in emotional fragility and breathiness. Her lyrics and song structures on this album are repetitive and therefore grating after a while, but if you’re in the mood for a very sweet brand of sad indie pop, look no further. Personally I enjoy the less-twee demos and radio versions at the end of the deluxe edition more than the originals. Think it suits her mood a bit more.
No FCCs detected. Try 3, 5, 11, 16-20. RIYL Imogen Heap, Belle and Sebastian

1. Candy (3:23) dreamy, wistful, gentle strum. twee/saccharine sets the tone
2. God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get) (3:41) light and Belle and Sebastian-y. kind of same formula as #1, repetitive, but nice piano & horns
3. *Party (3:13) darker start, strumming with purpose, singing full of yearning. eerie backing vox. lovely overall
4. People (3:20) sad, dreamy, lament-y, but with sha-la-las. “I can’t understand people, I guess that’s all right/’cause they can’t understand me.” ends on this church bell fade-out.
5. *Dog (3:04) bittersweet, catchy. one of the stronger ones I think.
6. I Can’t Talk About It (2:54) outwardly upbeat and bubbly, vox start to sound stronger, but… no… she becomes strained and returns to gloomtown
7. Coming Down The Hill (2:35) layers of high, uplifting horns, chimey, sweet
8. This Loneliness (4:40) depressant. acoustic with lush strings, bells. samey. sad sad sad
9. It’s All Good (3:04) sleigh bells. actually happy! upbeat, “la la la”s, B&S
10. Here Comes That Feeling (3:22) organ keys, horns, old-timey girl-group vibe
11. *Shake It Off (3:35) harmony reminds me of #5. somewhat more subdued, not overly sweet.
12. Sad (2:44) fade-in, sweet depressant, see #8. but this one’s more interesting musically.
13. Hello Goodbye (4:26) a verb-less love story repeating “a boy, a boy,” and “a girl, a girl” with so much cutesiness it actually hurts
14. Say (3:08) horns! uptempo!! backing chorus!! jazzy and moving girl group
15. Do The Dog (3:02) very beachy, laid back, enjoy the honest lyrics
16. *In The Woods (Unreleased demo) (4:27) piano tune, soft and hopeful. really like this one.
17. *An Eye For Gold (Unreleased demo) (4:12) piano and quiet strumming, starts out more playful than 16, then becomes all strumming and melancholy
18. Candy (Radio session) (4:36) stripped down version of #1.male backing instead of female. better than the original.
19. Party (Radio session) (3:56) see #18.
20. This Loneliness (Radio session) (6:07) see #18
21. Dog (Acoustic version) (3:35) see #18