Sara Berg
When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others
Gaymonkey
Where once the market was well and truly saturated with young men, heavy hearts, and acoustic ballads, the scene today has its fair share of Björk inspired vocalists, each with an electronic orchestra backing their efforts - Imogen Heap, Bat for Lashes, and The Knife (to an extent, though Karin Dreijer Andersson's collaboration with Röyksopp on their single "What else is there?" may be a better example), amongst others. Sara Berg has now interjected herself into these ranks with "When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others", an album that carefully carries itself along a number of precipitous lines - attempting explorations of darkness and pop flash, featuring pliable organic elements alongside rough digital instrumentation, drawing as much from the fluid approach of Björk's records as from The Knife's sinister focus, with Berg's voice unfolding her range and varying tones throughout this lofty attempt. The whole is definitely not as well put together as many of its parts, "Crawl back from under" and "This can't be desire" being two of the finest examples, but Berg is a talent worth keeping one's eye on. She may not have hammered the point home on this effort, but there's every reason to believe that she will, and soon.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
