review by Michael McCarthy
Today’s #albumoftheday is Big Anonymous by El Perro Del Mar (Sarah Assbring), which is her first new release since the album KoKoro from 2016.
Big Anonymous just came out today on February 16, 2024. I’m only listening to it for the first time as I write this but I wanted to write a little something about it because she’s one of my favorite artists.
This album is pretty different from her previous material. Her vocals used to posses a certain sweetness to them; they were pretty like cotton candy. Especially on Love is Not Pop, my favorite album in her catalog. Big Anonymous essentially showcases her darker side. Musically, it especially reminds me of the music of Ane Brun with, perhaps, a dash of Anna Ternheim. Lyrically, you wonder if she’s been suffering from depression lately but “Wipe Me Off This Earth” has an air of hopefulness to it.
It’s hard to critique an album you haven’t even finished listening to yet but those are my thoughts so far. I just wanted to make people aware that the record is now available everywhere. And I can already say that it’s well worth checking out. If you like Bjork or Portishead, you should especially dig it.
Final thought: the album isn’t nearly as eerie as its cover so don’t judge it by that. I mean, sure, there’s melancholy all over the record but it’s not the stuff of nightmares like the cover might suggest.
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