Prins Thomas has built a reputation as a cosmic disco stalwart through a series of ubiquitously fun remixes, running the Full Pupp label, and his status as Lindstrøm's best bro. In fact, he's been sort of hard to avoid for anyone with even a cursory interest in a Scandinavian electronic scene populated by artists like Rune Lindbæk, diskJokke, and Todd Terje. When Thomas' eponymous debut was announced abruptly in February, there was a sense of inevitability-- a coming-out party for one of nu-disco's premier names. Prins Thomas, however, is a bit of a curveball, one that moves away from most definitions of "dance" music toward a wilier sound inspired by 1970s German music and avant-garde composition.
The first thing you notice about Prins Thomas is that it's slow, or at least reserved. Thomas has been mining krautrock legends like Cluster, Neu!, and solo works by Michael Rother and Manuel Göttsching. (No surprise-- one of Thomas' only proper tracks prior to this release was named "Göttsching".) His highest profile gig to-date has been working with fellow Norwegian Lindstrøm, with last year's collaboration, II, digging hard into fried instrumental jams. Prins Thomas came together quickly after mixing for II ended, and it's cut from the same cloth: slow grooves that leave room for guitars, keyboards, and sometimes vocals to voyage skyward.
These expeditions can be thrilling and impressive, but Prins Thomas often fails to establish any discernible mood; the album is not effusive or downcast, never giddy or stoic. It feels, at times, academic, which is a product of its well-worn influences but also Thomas' sturdy, uneventful pacing. The longest track here, "Sauerkraut", references its influences in both its title and its composition, speeding up the bassline from Neu!'s seminal "Negativland". Prins Thomas sometimes feels like the work of a fan, a study.
Of course Thomas is much more than just a fan, and he's smart enough to know that he needn't assign too much importance to an album, even his first: In an interview with Beatportal (conducted by Pitchfork contributor Philip Sherburne) he refers to Prins Thomas as a "snapshot." He openly frets about his musical ability while name-checking the legends. It's safe to say that an artist who spent 10 years collaborating in a close-knit scene before dropping his debut has healthily non-traditional attitudes about a career in music. In turn, it's best to think of Prins Thomas not as a speedbump but as another iteration, slightly undercooked, of his still-developing style.
