- You can tell from the packaging alone that a lot of love went into All The Things, the latest EP on Giegling from Traumprinz (AKA Prince Of Denmark). The record comes in transparent tissue paper, with hand-painted gold marks riffing off a black-and-white image of clouds. The artwork on the record itself is a blurry close-up of waves at sunset—a screen-grab from the video Traumprinz made for his track "There Will Be Ecstasy."
The music itself lives up to this delicate presentation. Traumprinz likes dramatic vocal samples, something that made parts of his album Mothercave a bit awkward but that really works this time. Though just the right side of cloying, the title track and "I Gave My Life" are both disarmingly sincere. On "All The Things," a heavy deep house groove charges forward while an unsteady male voice croaks what sounds like, "Don't cry, even when the road is hard," soon followed by a house diva who adds, "I'm gonna do all the things." On "I Gave My Life," a submerged melody creates a feeling of epiphany, while a man gives an account of suddenly becoming religious after years of recreational drug use. It's a moving story (whatever your beliefs) and, in the mostly atheist and drug-taking world of dance music, a provocative choice (you have to wonder what effect it would have on a dance floor when the talk of acid and ecstasy suddenly gives way to "we need to give our lives to Jesus").
The other two tracks are more understated. "Messed Up Jam" is early morning music, but not in the party sense—this is the soundtrack to you alone in your apartment at 5 AM, with a gentle beat nudging sad chords reluctantly forward. "Let It Go" is a subtle ambient piece comprising little more than flickering keys, a windy swoosh-ing sound and Buddha Machine-style drones. Altogether, the record is somber, entrancing and certainly some of this intriguing producer's best stuff yet.
TracklistA1 Messed Up Jam
A2 All The Things
B1 I Gave My Life
B2 Let It Go