We will probably never know exactly where the dog came from, who owned it and how it was called. The sudden appearance and wagging of a stray’s tail on a beach nevertheless launched a remarkable pop career.
It’s been more than 20 years since the Swede Sarah Assbring was in the final hours of a moderately relaxing holiday in Spain and was staring into the sunset in a bad mood. But the four-legged friend lifted her spirits and gave her a name for a band project of which she is still the only permanent member: El Perro del Mar, Spanish for “the dog of the sea”.
The now 46-year-old singer and multi-instrumentalist from Gothenburg continues to make music for the sunset. Over time, the ongoing loss of family members caused a thick layer of sadness and grief to build up within her that could no longer be wiped away. Assbring felt her own mortality more than ever, felt guilty: Why am I still alive and the others had to go?
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