The German minimalist producer and stickler for a conceptual framework recently explained his ambition to “cut through the digital dust that surrounds us” with his new album, The Triad. Panther du Prince’s aim is to celebrate human interaction, jamming, even, in an age of GarageBand and disconnect. While this first solo album in six years is elevating, and intricate in its elegance and rhythmic propulsions, it remains uncluttered by the chaos of true, visceral emotion. Modular synths and other vintage analogue gear replace samples, and his vocals are more present than before, amplifying the theme of physical presence. In an Open Space has celestial shoegaze qualities, Frau im Mond, Sterne Laufen has the glacial finesse of Sigur Rós, while Islands in the Sky is almost indie: “You haven’t talked in over a year to me,” he sombrely sings, sounding like a worryingly poetic Twitter troll. “Your territory vanished and reappeared.”
