Eric Prydz

Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz issues singles and EPs through numerous aliases such as Pryda, Cirez D, Sheridan, Dirty Funker, Moo, A and P Project, Axer, Hardform, Dukes of Sluca, and Groove System. The bulk of these tracks appear on his personal imprints Mouseville, Pryda, and Pryda Friends. When recording under his given name, however, Prydz concentrates on direct, dancefloor-focused house that often revisits lightly nostalgic 1980s pop material. His initial outing in that vein arrived with the 2004 single “Call on Me,” which quickly became a European phenomenon. Constructed around the central riff of Steve Winwood’s 1987 chart-topper “Valerie” and featuring fresh vocals from Winwood himself, the track ascended to number one on the singles charts in both England and Germany. Much of its visibility stemmed from a provocative video that depicted an explicitly erotic workout sequence, prompting even U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair to remark publicly on its suggestive content. In 2005 Prydz returned with “Woz Not Woz,” an energetic instrumental overhaul of Was (Not Was)’s 1980 release “Wheel Me Out”; although it enjoyed less mainstream traction, the cut demonstrated greater sonic ingenuity. The following year brought “Proper Education,” his reworking of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” which placed David Gilmour and the original children’s choir over a markedly more groove-driven rhythm. Prydz kept issuing material on the Pryda label throughout the subsequent years, a period that peaked with the 2012 triple-disc collection Eric Prydz Presents Pryda. The first disc contained fresh productions, while the remaining two discs offered earlier tracks that Prydz himself had re-edited and sequenced. He resurfaced in 2015 with the expansive nine-minute composition “Opus,” which achieved notable success and drew further attention when Kieran Hebden, better known as the experimental producer Four Tet, publicly asked on Twitter to deliver a remix. Prydz approved the request, and the resulting version anchored his first full-length studio album upon its 2016 release.