Album Review: Eric Prydz Presents Pryda

How is it that a producer who has such a phobia of flight makes us fly so high? Swedish-born, London-based is one of the most prolific, progressive and personified house artists in the electronic music scene. His monikers, Eric Prydz, Pryda and Cirez D all serve an individual purpose with equally amazing results. He has just released a three-disc album under his Pryda alias. Disc one is full of never-been released goodies followed by two discs mixed with a large array of tunes from his back catalog.

Eric Prydz is responsible for global house anthems “Call on Me (2004),” “Proper Education (2007)” and “Pjanoo (2008).” Over the past few years, the mastermind behind club hits “Melo,” “2night,” and “Mokba,” has released a slew of new originals that have been so desperately sought after by fans. Eric has certainly solidified his status as one of the pre-eminent producers of the genre. The first disc is legitimate proof that he belongs in the same echelon as Guetta, Tiësto and Armin van Buuren.

Disc one is a perfect blend of underground and commerciality. One might also call it, Pryda’s “work in progress” disc. Beginning with “Shadows,” the track creates a strong reflection on the style of warm-up progression that you’d hear inside a club. An aggressive rhythm but it’s glittered in a twinkling melodic lead and carefully balanced background characteristics. Just as quickly as Pryda glazes over set-starters he fills the disc with peak-time club dominators.

“Sunburst” is a display of a heavenly synth stab with echoing mid-ranged layers that burst into a fully focused crescendo with a gut-busting bass-line. Shortly following is “You” that features a tease of a vocal, delicate plucks and a stunning lead chord progression. The kick-drum is subtle, sweet and light enough for blocks to emerge through the break and out into the overwhelmingly lush breakdown. Deriving from the more intricate matters is the simple and titular “SW4.” The sure-fire festival tune includes a vocoded sample and a mesmerizing bass-line that is created early and pushes itself into a few funky beats and dancing arpeggios.

Just as there is no more headroom for Pryda to take one to the next step of progression, “Mighty Love” does the situation justice. The feel-good pad-heavy sound-scape twinkles with a lead and will leave audiences completely awed at its ever-so poignant and catchy melody. Tremendously rich with warm vibes, the track is surely to become a timeless progressive house track. While the grooves are all completely original, Pryda puts much time and personality into his tracks and thus, in result, music is created with a striking flare and distinctive style. That style is showcased with “Allein.” Brilliantly processed and carefully crafted, the atmosphere of the track will leave quite the impact on fans. That impact is only reiterated with the closing track and intro edit of “Pjanoo,” which has been quite possibly one of the most addicting tunes ever created.

Therefore, just as Pryda ends with a disc of long-awaited tracks and new loves, the artist takes us back to all that might have been missed, forgotten and underexposed.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

01. Shadows
02. Agag
03. Beyond 8
04. Javlar
05. Sunburst
06. Hardrock Lausanne
07. You
08. SW4
09. Leja
10. Mighty Love
11. Allein
12. You Interlude
13. Pjanoo (Eric’s Intro Edit)

Disc 2 – Retrospective Mix Part 1:

01. Lesson One
02. Miami To Atlanta
03. Genesis
04. Rakfunk
05. Europa
06. Aftermath (Eric Prydz Edit)
07. Frankfurt
08. Armed
09. Reeperbahn
10. Muranyi
11. Paolo Mojo – 1983 (Eric Prydz Remix)
12. The Gift

Disc 3  – Retrospective Mix Part 2:

01. The End
02. Rymd
03. Waves
04. Emos
05. VIRO (Eric Prydz Intro Edit)
06. Glimma
07. Juletider
08. With Me
09. 2Night
10. Melo (Eric Prydz Special Edit)
11. M.S.B.O.Y
12. Mirage