Lists
January: 18 albums you need to hear this month
Sven Väth, Fever Ray, Nabihah Iqbal, Björk and more
Prins Thomas 'Prins Thomas 5' (Prins Thomas Musikk)
Along with fellow Norwegian sonic traveller Todd Terje and his old mucker Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, Thomas Moen Hermansen has been on a remarkable journey, with all three now elevated to cosmic disco royalty. ‘Prins Thomas 5’, however, feels like a soft launch for Prins Thomas 2.0. You can hear it from the off on the glam-tastic ‘Here Comes The Band’, said to be influenced by the veteran Glasgow melodic indie band, Teenage Fanclub. Elsewhere, it alights on sun-kissed analogue ambience (‘Aske Hermansen’) and brooding, low-slung acid (‘Æ’). He hasn’t entirely flung his future boogie credentials aside – ‘Å’ shimmers in a psychedelic 4x4 haze – but this is still a delicious vision of Thomas’ future. Stephen Worthy
8/10
