Skylar Spence - Prom King (10th Anniversary Edition)

When Ryan DeRobertis announced the name change of his project from Saint Pepsi to Skylar Spence, there was no indication of any stylistic departure, though the change arrived with a musical shift toward faster tempos and more pristine production. Whereas Saint Pepsi had often used decades-old boogie, disco, and new wave as grist for the sampling mill, Skylar Spence is intent on trafficking more overtly in those genre aesthetics through his own production techniques and vocal contributions. With 'Prom King', DeRobertis reoriented his music for his new full-band live act and wound up with an album full of tight and enveloping dance tunes.

While DeRobertis’ previous long-players had been more amorphous collections in the style of beat tapes, 'Prom King' is compact and cohesive, with the album’s varied stylistic references (new wave, UK garage, boogie) united through strong guitar melodies and Todd Edwards-ian cobblings-together of tiny vocal samples. 'Prom King' was DeRobertis making sense of missed opportunities. His high school did not have a prom king; he has filled the position with an imaginative album of personal and musical revisionism. 

RIYL: Passion Pit, Foster The People, Phoenix