Golden Frames
A Tant Rever Du Roi, 2023
9/10
The French rockers Princess Thailand return with a 3rd album of their atypical and noisy version of rock, where 10 tracks are focused on aesthetics and sonically engaging sounds.
The bright and booming presence of “Blinded Fool” opens the listen with thumping drums and expressive voices in a buzzing, noisy climate, and “Ghost Car” follows with a post-punk energy that could still soundtrack a night at the club, despite residing in darker areas.
“Machina” is the middle track, and it brings both intimacy and busy ideas to the rich and propulsive landscape, while “Basement” carries a distinct prettiness buried under the swirling guitars and strong attention to atmosphere that even hints at dream-pop.
The last 2 tracks, “Endgame” and “Imperator”, don’t disappoint, as the former finds itself in droning, mesmerizing territory, and the latter recruits sci-fi nods and bare singing amid the cinematic ebbs of minimalism that bursts into a giant, emotive blast at the end.
An often hard hitting record that still embraces plenty of gentle qualities, the no-wave ideas certainly add even more intrigue to the affair, and the synthetic textures versus dense guitars don’t hurt either, as Princess Thailand continue to captivate us.
Travels well with: You.guru- UNtouchable; Orbel- Lur Hezea