You’d be forgiven for thinking during Eric Prydz’s 10 year career in dance music that the prolific Swedish producer would have already released an artist album. Well, amazingly, he hasn’t.
‘Pryda’ is not your average album – but instead a 3 disc anthology of everything he has ever made under his Eric Prydz name (excluding productions from his techno moniker Cirez D). It includes a full album CD that twists and turns as it should, from the souring progressive house chords of ‘Shadows’ to full on hands-in-the-air trance of ‘Mighty Love’. He doesn’t lambast you with a completely new sound, but shows off a sound that he has been perfecting and honing for well over 10 years. It’s a coming of age and most importantly a celebration of how he has managed to rise to the top of the DJ circuit as both a performer and musician.
From the moment you hit play you know you’re listening to Prydz – whether you’re a fan of his music or not – I’m sure we could agree that Eric is a master of producing impeccably engineered music. The first CD is as you’d expect: an assortment of sonic intensities under the broad church of house music; we say broad because you actually get quite an array of style and tempos – but it’s all unmistakeably Prydz. You’ve got everything from the tribal rhythms of ‘Javalar’ that seemlessly blend into string-laden progressive cuts of ‘Sunburst’ to a spine-tingling finish of ‘Panjoo’.
The 2 other CDs that accompany the first are the ones you’re likely to go back to time and time again – these are essentially DJ mixes that only feature songs produced by Eric. The first CD turns the tempo up a few notches with a breathe-taking intro that includes the electro cuts of ‘Lesson One’ to the epic hooks of ‘Miami to Atlanta’ and the soft echoes of ‘Genesis’. If you’re looking for a definitive 2 hour mix from Prydz then the 2 retrospecitve mixes will serve you well. He fires off beatport number one after beatport number one, taking in the sonic gems of ‘Rarfunk’ to ‘The Gift’. If the second CD is the lighter side of Eric Pydz then the third and final CD see’s both the light and dark side of his productions come together, as he reels off, yet another, 10 perfectly executed tracks from fan-favourite the ‘Waves’ to more languid tones of ‘Viro’ and the grandeur of ‘Juletider’.
Eric Prydz’s album isn’t going to start a revolution, nor is it going to start a new golden age of electronic music, but if you’re looking for the definitive Prydz CD then this is it. It certainly won’t surprise you, but it will satisfy you with just under 3 hours of perfectly executed music that we’re sure you’ll come back to time and time again.
HBF Rating 4/5
Out May 21.
