Since going "from the valley to the stars" (TMT Review) on her second LP, El Perro Del Mar (a.k.a. Swedish songwriter Sarah Assbring) has made an incredible discovery: pop, as it turns out, is not love. Assbring discovered this fact while writing songs for her third album, all of which happened to deal with the concept of doomed love. So, all these new songs were love songs, but they were also pop songs. Which might suggest that pop is actually love, albeit the doomed kind? But no! As it turns out, Assbring discovered that love is deeper than a pop song, leaving her with the conclusion (and title of her new record) that Love Is Not Pop.

If love really is not pop, then, man, that brings forward a lot of new facts about pop. Did you know that pop is not all you need? Or that pop triangles are really quite ordinary? Pop, surprisingly, is considerably less simple than love, not to mention that there’s an awful lot wrong with pop. Have you ever fallen in pop with someone you should have fallen in love with?

Regardless of whether pop and love are really one and the same, apparently the old El Perro Del Mar is not the new El Perro Del Mar. Ms. Assbring is making an effort to break from her previous style, as the new record possesses a darker outlook and a sound she describes as “mysteriously groovy.” Such a “mysteriously groovy” sound is the product of her collaboration with producer Rasmus Hägg, half of Balaeric pop duo Studio. Studio’s work is pretty “mysteriously groovy” itself, so the description of Love Is Not Pop, due October 20 via The Control Group, is likely accurate.

Tracklist:

1. Gotta Get Smart
2. Change of Heart
3. L Is for Love
4. Let Me In
5. Heavenly Arms
6. It Is Something (To Have Wept)
7. A Better Love
8. L Is for Love (Low Motion Disco's additional love remix) [bonus track]
9. Change of Heart (J Rintamäki remix) [bonus track]
10. Let Me In (Nhessingtons remix) [bonus track]