Swedish singer/songwriter Sarah Assbring credits her musical career to her muse; a dog she saw on the beach of a Spanish island in 2003. “Talking about it almost seems mythical,” she says. Depressed about where she was going musically at the time, she found enlightenment upon repeatedly seeing the beach dog during her stay.
“It just spoke to me,” she said. The feeling that she received still follows her today. “It’s a profoundness that I can hold on to, to remember why I started writing songs,” she says.
Since then, Assbring has made several records under the alias, El Perro Del Mar (which translates to “dog of the sea” in Spanish). She writes and records everything by herself in her self-made studio. The result is simple, dreamy lo-fi pop songs with repetitive lyrics sung delicately in a nostalgic 1960’s girl group fashion. Her newest record, From the Valley to the Stars (Licking Fingers) will be released in the United States in April.
“This album is more organic in all ways possible,” Assbring says. “When I wrote (the songs), I was spontaneously going back to a place that connected to an idea of what music is in a childish state or folkloric way.”
Most of the songs revolve around the themes of heaven and nature and living and dying. “The songs are more a personal expression, I think, but at the same time very universal, in that they speak to everyone.”
Musically, From the Valley to the Stars isn’t as conventional as her previous work, which Assbring attributes to listening to a lot of instrumental, Indian, late 60’s psychedelic, and Swedish folk music while making it.
“I keep all of these different instruments in my studio so I can grab whatever comes to my mind. It’s like working as a painter, and having different colors, textures, and brushes-I have a choir and symphony,” she says. All of the instrumental tracks were recorded live, to prevent any synthetic feelings. Several tracks on the record feature members of the Göthenburg Symphonic Choir and the Göthenburg Symphony Orchestra.
Assbring used to tell people that she wouldn’t play live unless she played with an orchestra, but she has yet to fulfill this goal. She admits that she never used to like touring because of the stress and tension that came with it, but this time around, she’s changed her mind.
“Touring has grown on me,” she says. She may not have an orchestra, but is bringing along a bigger band than usual. “It gives me more possibilities to build a soundscape and recreate the same instrumentation as the studio recordings, which is important to the whole atmosphere,” she says. “And it’s more organized.”
While she appreciates the organization that comes with sharing her songs with audiences, she has a different outlook on where her musical path will take her. “The best way to plan for the future is to not make plans,” Assbring says. “Things happen when you open the door. I plan to do a lot of diverse things music-wise. I really look forward to it.”