On the 2016 album
KoKoro,
El Perro del Mar (aka
Sarah Assbring) took her music in an exciting new direction, opening up the sound to a wider range of instruments (tabla, synth strings) and styles (including Afro-pop, world music, and dub), while writing songs that felt ripped from
Assbring's soul as usual, but were also more universal.
We Are History serves as something of a companion to that album, both in lyrical focus and sound. Working with producer
Jacob Haage as she did on
KoKoro,
Assbring folds world music influences and textures into her sound and creates something stately and impressive. The songs here are empowering ("Freedom Is a State of Mind") and harrowing ("Fight for Life"), as
Assbring lays her heart and soul bare. The lyrics have the same outward-looking approach as
KoKoro, but even more than on that album, she sounds wrenched by the current state of the world and the sadness it can bring. The songs are dark and almost frozen at times; it's definitely not easy listening. The traces of modern pop that helped give
KoKoro a little bit of sunny lightness are gone here. Every song sounds like it was written in a dark room late at night while processing all the pain of the day, trying to make it into art that will touch other people, maybe even help them deal with the confusion and pain. The hard work and skill she puts into the construction of the songs pays off, and
We Are History is essential listening for tough times. It won't be good for office parties or Sunday drives, but for serious introspection and deep soul-searching, it would be hard to find a better soundtrack.