Tonight, the Triple Door has a doubleheader of the Swedish chanteuse variety: Taken By Trees, the solo project of Victoria Bergsman, formerly of The Concretes, and El Perro Del Mar, the Spanish name for Gothenburg singer Sarah Assbring. [Insert ass joke here.]
Both make lovely and sad music. Taken By Trees errs on the side of exotic, with Bergsman crafting Swedish songs via Karachi, a far cry from her Motown-meets-Mazzy Star work with the Concretes. Her latest album, East of Eden, was recorded in Pakistan (check out Taken by Trees’ documentary), and it shows. The album’s instrumentation leans Sufi, with keyboards and marimbas lending depth and warmth to Bergsman’s chilly voice.
Meanwhile, El Perro Del Mar has always been a lovely downer, starting with the third track of her first album, where she drunk-dials her ex and implores him, “come on over, baby, there’s a party going on,” and makes the subsequent “be-bop-a-lula” sound heart-wrenching. Her latest album, Love Is Not Pop has some (relatively) upbeat laid-back pop songs mixed in with her usual sway-happy ballads. And definitely check out her cover above of the XX’s “Shelter,” recorded nine days ago.
Sounds like on this tour, they’ve been putting on shows featuring video and multimedia, which would work well on the Mainstage. Taken By Trees and El Perro Del Mar play the Triple Door tonight. Doors are at 6 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets: $18.