Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, Joey Primero, alongside a collective of New York City-based musicians, is El Mar, who has garnered rave reviews from Billboard, Paste Magazine, Impose Magazine, The New York Observer and more with her debut EP ‘The Road’ in 2015 and her debut album ‘Try To Forget’ in 2017.
Primero records under the moniker “El Mar” which in Spanish translates to “The Sea”, is a nod to Primero’s roots and seaside upbringing. A Miami native, she was raised by a single mother who came from Columbia to the US as a teen.
Her new EP, Walking With Dogs, was released on June 15. Recorded in just two days in Brooklyn in the Fall of 2017, the EP was written by Primero after she left a music industry career working as a music publicist for over 5 years.
Primero had worked with many bands, including notable ones, but the artist and songwriter inside her longed to be heard and she missed performing. It was then that she decided it was time to get back to what she had come to New York to do.
Walking With Dogs is an honest, raw exploration of loss, love, rage, and envy through an emotionally candid lens.
The first track out the gate is in-your-face and clever I Want Some Money. The opening is a soothing guitar and bass melody accompanied by bright drums that gently lead you into not what you expect. You’re jolted from this relaxed state with Primero’s strong, commanding vocals beginning with her declaration that you “grow up”. Her powerful vocal ability is showcased in the chorus with emotional, scorching notes. Lyrically it brilliantly conveys sarcasm and feeling bitter about a friendship that is ending and wanting back what you invested into it.
One of the EP’s stand-out tracks is New Life, the can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head song. You can read my review of the infectious post-breakup song when it was released in February this year.
The track Sin Sin is an emotionally charged song written by Primero who says it is “about her estranged Cuban-American father who was in and out of her life throughout her childhood after struggling with drug addiction.” The song is stripped down to acoustic guitar and light percussion accentuating a slow, somber melody. Primero’s impassioned vocals during the song are especially poignant in the chorus and harmonies as the lyrics paint her heartbreaking story.
Saving the best track for last is the latest single release, The Best One. This song is a unique, 90s flavored ballad of being hopelessly in love without it dripping in the usual sappiness of most love songs. Written for her guitarist and husband-to-be, Fred Sladkey, Primero explores the joyful upheaval of loving someone so fully. The song opens with a beautiful silky melody on acoustic guitar and Primero’s angelic voice. Then it switches over to the guitar strumming which hints that this is not your usual ballad. After the next few verses, the song bursts wide open into a robust chorus, with a tight guitar, bass, percussion, gorgeous background harmonies, and Primero’s powerhouse vocals. This song is for anyone in love with someone who makes them, as Primero declares about Fred, “stupidly happy”.
Highly Recommended. Walking with Dogs is an EP you should have in your collection. Joey Primero/El Mar is a talented songwriter who lets her vulnerability create memorable songs and whose voice will capture your heart.
Walking With Dogs is available to purchase on iTunes and cdbaby.
Stream it on Spotify
Follow El Mar on Social Media:
Twitter: @i_am_el_mar
Facebook: iamelmar
Instagram: @i_am_el_mar
Check out El Mar on Soundcloud