Elements of Light
As he heard bells chiming from Oslo\'s city hall, Pantha du Prince became so inspired by the peculiar way the tones layered and collided that he conceived a patchwork of compositions exploring bell instruments as the centerpiece. The purity of the bell almost acts as a distillery on *Elements of Light*, which is essentially a concept album. Pantha du Prince foregoes his headier electronic textures and focuses on the careful arranging of melody and atmosphere, building intensity in half-steps. \"Spectral Split\" runs the gamut from meditative tone poem to invigorating and pulsing dance material, taking nearly 18 minutes to complete its journey. *Elements of Light* is a more cerebral and contemplative turn for Pantha du Prince, but the result is hypnotizing: an inspired release exploring new creative space in his minimal dancefloor style.
Originally conceived as a performance for 2011's Øya festival in Oslo, the recording of Elements of Light is an impressive example of how versatile the lowly bell can be, and offers familiar beats and bass swells from Hendrik Weber's world shot through with giddy-making surprises.
Pantha Du Prince’s last studio album, 2010’s Black Noise, was a masterpiece of minimal electronica informed by glitchy dance music, icy techno, and Teutonic precision. Although nearly vocal-free, the album had the cadences and urgency of a more structured collection; on many songs, cascades of shimmering bells…
Elements of Light sounds less like the fourth proper Pantha du Prince album than it does a commissioned work.
The first material from Berlin's Hendrik Weber, aka Pantha Du Prince, since 2010's well-received Black Noise travels even further into the ethereal realms of downtempo, atmospheric electronica which the artist has explored more and more over the course of his career, moving away from tougher, more dance-oriented work.
ClashMusic: Read an album review of 'Elements Of Light' by Pantha Du Prince And The Bell Laboratory, a collaboration between German house genius Hendrik Weber and a troupe of bell players.
Hendrik Weber's finely crafted techno is as icy as a winter dip in the Baltic, writes <strong>Killian Fox</strong>
German producer embraces the power of bells with likeable results. CD review by Thomas H Green,