Pantha Du Prince "The Splendour"

• Words: Thomas Rees
• Label: Rough Trade

While minimal techno may have died in a storm of rote blips and clicks set against 4/4 kicks, some of the genre's better practitioners haven't given up the ghost, and Pantha Du Prince is a member of this small coterie. With a penchant for melancholic chord progressions, small rifts, and icy sonic landscapes, "The Splendour" is a slice of deep techno that keeps some minimalist aesthetic alive, but eschews the genre's microscopic tendencies in favor of a dichotomy between smaller aural gestures and grander, more lush synth sweeps. Like a more detail-obsessed Lawrence, Pantha Du Prince is sure to remain at the top of the minimal field with his next full-length, Black Noise, which arrives on February 9 of next year.