El Perro Del Mar – “In the Woods” (Singles Going Steady)

Chris Ingalls: Swedish-based El Perro Del Mar (a.k.a. Sarah Assbring) serves up a gorgeous, haunting, piano-led song that features simple yet effective vocals and a layer of something that sounds like a pump organ, adding to the mystery. More vocals are added towards the end of the song as it gradually builds up and then gently fades away. The song could very easily have been ruined by too much production, too many instruments, but it’s all handled very gently, with a bit of a minimalist vibe. [7/10]

Emmanuel Elone: You can criticize “In the Woods” for many things, but it’s impossible to say that it isn’t beautiful. The gorgeous, slow piano coupled with El Perro Del Mar’s soft and tender voice is a match made in heaven, and the song feels like a nice, warm cloud. This can make it sleepy at times, and the lack of variation can increase that sense of fatigue, but El Pero Del Mar do their best to interweave some mysterious lyrics and twinkling vocal melodies in the mix to keep things as dynamic as possible. “In the Woods” might not be as lively as it could have been, but it’s definitely a sweet little lullaby. [7/10]

Chad Miller: Really pretty music. The soft organ part was a nice addition to the texture. The music did tend to stand still throughout the song though. The ending “Won’t you catch a rainbow” section was a nice and subtle shift that counteracted this, but it could have used more of these moments throughout. There weren’t many times where a melody really stood out from the rest of the song. [6/10]

Pryor Stroud: Marked by the same hopeless romanticism that defines Sarah Assbring’s best tracks, “In the Woods” centers around a haunting piano lead that captures the sound of dust drifting down a road your lover used to frequent. “Want to take your hand / And lead you in the woods”, she repeats, leaving it ambiguous whether these woods already contain a set of memories or if they’re waiting for memories to be made within them. [7/10]

SCORE: 6.75