Despite the rumours, Prinzhorn are not dead...
Coming to the fore back in 2006, when the whole world seemed to collectively rediscover ESG and Liquid Liquid, Prinzhorn Dance School’s debut self-titled album has gone down in history as one of the most polarising records of the last 10 years. A cacophony of beats, awkward silences, minimalistic, shape-changing rhythms and girl/boy yelps, it baffled as many critics as it excited with its weird cat-and-mouse energy. I loved it though; it was like a cute girl holding a pillow over your face in musical form.
The first UK band to sign with cult New York imprint DFA, they seemed to hold the whole world in the palm of the hands back in 2007, so it was a bit strange when they suddenly went all Marie Celeste on us and disappeared into the ether without a trace. Now, like most people, I don’t follow bands I like around like some deranged stalker, so I just assumed that they’d quietly broken up and formed some experimental jazz outfit instead. As it turns out, I was dead wrong; like the Beastie Boys before them, Prinzhorn had in fact been using the time to construct their own studio and work on a killer second album.
Released later this month, 'Clay Class' is as big a divergence as you can get to the first record. Reminding me of Gang of Four's 'Entertainment', it's replaced the weird claustrophobic jams with slightly more straightforward (if still very tightly wound) funk punk. It’s ground-breaking in the way that a couple of dyed-in-the-wool art kids have made a near perfect pop record for our recession-bitten times.
We haven't heard anything from you guys in ages and now suddenly you're back with a new album. What have you been up to since 2007?
TP: Four years – it doesn't feel like a long gap, it feels about right to me. We toured a lot. We built our own recording studio, so we could write and record the new album in our own space. After the actual building work there was a lot of technical kit to set up (very big thanks to Oliver at Roland electrical) and then learn, without getting too bogged down in the technical side.
I'm proud that we now know how to record, mix and produce a record, but all of that is irrelevant if the songs aren't great. The technical side is kind of second nature now so I’m glad we took the time out to get that all out of the way...
The Sunday Telegraph said that your first album was one of the best 120 albums of all time – doesn't that pile the pressure on a bit?
SH: I don't read the Telegraph so not really, but yeah, it’s nice to be included there. Both my albums are in my top 120 albums of all time, but again it’s like reviews – just a handful of people’s views, at any set time and I'd like to hope we all have our own opinions formed regardless of what others say.
TP: There is plenty of pressure already – the pressure we put on ourselves. Good press, bad press, none of it helps me feel better about something I hate or feel worse about something I like. The songs are the songs...
This record feels a lot more friendly than your last one – are you guys going pop on us?
SH: We've always been a pop band, what's wrong with pop music? It’s just popular.
TP: When we started I wanted our songs to be for anyone and everyone and I still do, so pop is okay with me. The feel of the record happened as we wrote it – whatever the songs needed they got, they governed the instrumentation. They stem from how we felt at the time and you can't really dictate that.
Am I right in saying that quite a bit of the record seems to deal with the recession? We tend to live in a bit of a bubble in London – are the cuts really making an impact on the South Coast?
SH: Yes. People sometimes forget Brighton isn't just for people with second homes. The council has made redundancies; there has been a move to tiered waged groups leaving people earning less for the same job; our mental health services have been cut and we’re heading toward less specialist care and relying more on patient led / volunteer services.
The business rates have gone up forcing more of our small independent shops to go out of business; it's all cafes and supermarkets and the soul is being sucked out of our streets. The schools' music and arts have been cut, as well as after school and sport programmes, plus the tax on cider really pisses off my local stair-dweller.
TP: People can apply whatever themes they like to the record however they like, and if parts of it chime with a recessionary mood then that’s fine. I’ve always been skint so it doesn't make much difference to me, it's not my focus.
Got any good Nick Cave stories?
SH: Why, what has he told you?
TP: I live two roads from Nick Cave. I think he enjoys the anonymity and privacy of Brighton and Hove and I do too...
'Clay Class' comes is out from January 30th on DFA records.
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