Prins Emanuel’s fourth album, his third on Music For Dreams, is his second set resulting from a “diagonal approach” to composing – travelling first between furthest points, and then going back to join the dots. A process he’s described as “Something akin to drawing only shadows, and then finishing with the contours.” Performed primarily on guitar – within the intimate recordings you can hear his fingers sliding up and down strings – the results are gentle melodic, electro-acoustic abstractions. Treated, stuttered vocals, and snippets of woodwinds, and reeds, in with those closely mic’d microtones. A marvel of muted overdubs, this creates a kind of avant garde chamber music. Something that also flirts with elements of folk and jazz. 

With a tom tom thump, the tribal Paia turns, spins, a slow motion drum circle tarantella. Boeotia, too, is sorta ceremonial, and also moves at a stately pace. Packed with field recorded birds and insects, Parnassos is a meditative guitar mantra. What sounds like a wheezy, sea shanty, squeezebox / harmonium dominates Vastan Vind. The instrument’s drones weaving a waltz, while Prins pushes it through phasing effects. Nalades feels like the soundtrack to some campfire tale of a wilderness trek, across Wild West deserts and canyons*, while the vibe of Ruach is very ECM. With a little Moondog, perhaps, in its honking horns. 

Prins Emanuel’s Diagonal Musik II is available to order directly from Music For Dreams.

*I’m currently re-reading Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, paying my respects to the recently passed literary legend. This “may” have influenced the imagery imagined while listening to this particular piece.