In September 2011, El Perro del Mar posted the song "What Do You Expect" online. Comprising a collage of samples over a minimal beat, it was a protest track released shortly after the London riots. Considering that Sarah Assbring was better known for chronicling romantic relations over those between social classes, it was jarring to hear her deploy samples like "The police are not listening to them-- what do you expect?" Toward the end, in her characteristic sullen murmur, she delivers the lines, "Never grow tired of this pale, pale fire." It's a bit vague to be inflammatory on its own, but in context, it bore a certain poignancy.
"What Do You Expect" hasn't ended up on the LP she named Pale Fire, and Assbring has backed off from politics since then, focusing instead on the dueling forces that have preoccupied her since her debut, 2005's Look! It's El Perro Del Mar. "In this world, you think you have no reason to believe in love or in anything much," she said of the title. "Then one day, when you least expect it, a light appears on the far horizon...It's the pale fire. The promise of love and hope-- all consuming and elusive."
A slight cop-out? Sure, though no one was expecting an album of fiery protest songs from one of Sweden's most reliable portrayers of romance and whimsy. What twists the knife is that Assbring has said that Pale Fire was inspired by the 90s music she used to love-- namely house and trip hop. The idea of a dance album from El Perro Del Mar is tantalizing: tears on the floor and a thick, moody fog in the air, as apt for dancing as for watching shadows. The extended version of Pale Fire's centerpiece, "Walk On By", goes so far as to include a whopping, very noticeable sample from Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy", but disappointingly, Assbring's dalliances with the politicized movement and with the bold, era-defining chime of house are reduced to wan dilutions of the original inspirational source material.
Set those intentions aside, though, and Assbring at least stays true to the hushedly sensual vibe with which she's made her name. The title track punches in with a flurry of horns which fade to a tentative murmur and a resigned dance breakdown better made for moping than any frenetic movement. A synth zips its way around "Home is to Feel Like That", and its beat is initially as giddy as its first words: "I just had to see you, I just had to see you." But those words quickly veer south and become a farewell, something that characterizes Pale Fire. Each mention of love is followed by an annulment, and the closest thing to a straightforward declaration of intent, "I Was a Boy", is a delicate husk that's about as appropriate to carry the themes of a love song as is a requiem.
But most requiems aren't this easy to move to, and Pale Fire fortunately picks up the pace from time to time. "I Carry the Fire" is house inhabited by ghosts, and "To the Beat of a Dying World" clings tight to a steady, propulsive drone. "Hold Off the Dawn" comes off like an intensely loud synthpop track heard through layers of gossamer that slowly envelop the song. Somewhere in the mix are lasers, stuttering pianos, and skips of percussion, but picking them out isn't easy. Nothing's exactly immediate -- but that's hardly a surprise either. Pale Fire doesn't command your attention so much as wait patiently until it drifts into your view and then goes away. Assbring's said as much about the concept of love over the years; on Pale Fire, it sounds just as much like her stance on music.
