Pale FireMemphis Industries ***

There always was a languid charm to Sarah Assbring’s work, but there was never quite this propulsion of rhythm. For her fifth album, Assbring has carried some of her favourite house and electro influences with her to the songwriting desk, and the results give Pale Fire a glow that was never previously there. Not, mind, that this means Pale Fire is wall to wall thumps and bleeps: as the slo-mo house panache of Walk on By shows, Assbring’s idea of alluring dancefloor frills is still about keeping things chilled in the Balearic sense of the word.

Other tracks (Dark Knight, I Carry the Fire) are similarly imbued with noir-ish, shadowy beats and sweet, ghostly textures. It may not quite place her in the same made-in-

Sweden post-house department as Lykke Li and Robyn, but it's quite a progression nonetheless. elperrodelmar.com

Download:Walk on By, I Carry the Fire