With the Winter Olympics transpiring a country away, Tuesday night at Le Poisson Rouge belonged to the Swedes, as two chanteuses from that country stood on the podium and conquered the evening. The two singers, performing under noms-de-stage El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees, cut through smoke and sound problems to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable evening of low-key tunes.
El Perro Del Mar took the stage first, singer Sarah Assbring (hence the stage name) backed by rhythm guitar, bass, and drum. Assbring jumped immediately into “Let Me In,” following it with “Change of Heart,” the single from her latest album Love is Not Pop and one of the strongest songs of the entire evening.
Dressed in black, as were her accompanists, Assbring was energetic, writhing and bouncing along with the music. Where in the studio her voice is often caught in a fog, Tuesday night saw her bathed in less reverb, allowing what is a truly good voice to ring clearly through the club. On songs like “Party” and “Is It Something,” that voice was evocative and possessed. Playing a twelve-string guitar and well complemented by excellent rhythm guitar solos, Assbring was able to bring El Perro Del Mar’s songs to a brighter dynamic range without losing their emotion.
Taken By Trees followed El Perro Del Mar, although one didn’t get the feeling that either artist was opening or headlining, merely sharing a bill. They began their set by clouding the stage with a smoke machine and playing an instrumental-backed film comprised of footage in Pakistan. The video was a touch too long, but it was soon forgotten as the set kicked off with “To Lose Someone.”
Following the band’s first song, Taken By Trees singer Victoria Bergsman asked the light operator to avoid blues and greens. It wouldn’t be the only struggle she had with the techs in Le Poisson Rouge—on three occasions she asked them to lower the lighting, and the back half of her set was plagued by hot microphones. Technical troubles aside, Taken By Trees was a treat—Bergsman sweetly sang her way through highlights from both of her albums.
A dreamy run of “Greyest Love of All,” Animal Collective cover “My Boys,” and “Anna” was the heart of the order, a three-punch statement that won me over. Marimbas, samples, and recorders blazing, Taken By Trees worked middle-eastern rhythms and melodies into their tunes, bringing a worldly feel to the incense-drenched stage.
For better or for worse, the two most enjoyable songs of the evening both came in the form of covers. El Perro Del Mar took on The XX’s “Shelter” and performed it beautifully, holding the crowd in a rapturous gaze. Taken By Trees’ gender-bending version of “My Girls” was the highlight of the second set as well; the band looked particularly intent on playing it well, since a member of Animal Collective was in the crowd. The audience ate it up—it has somehow become one of Bergsman’s signature songs.
Despite the cover songs, the sets had an transformative feel: a transportation to Sweden, to Pakistan, to a dark smoky club five decades ago. It was a great escape from the slushy night outside, and a reminder that warm red lights and twisting tunes can warm up even the coldest nights in winter.
