Louis Cole: "the new Prince"!!! (well, not really of course, but you know what I mean...)
Anyone into Louis Cole here? He has a new album out called "Time" and I think it is outstanding.
Here is my attempt at promoting him as "The Next Prince", as many others before me have tried before me with other artists on this dearly beloved "Music: Non-Prince" forum.
Here is what they have in common:
Louis Cole is a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist born out of musician parents.
He plays some mean funk keyboard.
He is an exciting drummer with an impeccable feeling for rhythm and a preference for unusual grooves.
The DIY mentality, recording complete albums in a small studio at home.
He blends a broad range of styles and genres (synthfunk, (dream)pop, electronic dance music, jazz, 80's R&B/pop, classical music, choral stuff, fusion etc) and manages to come up with unique, entertaining and musically impressive pop songs full of quirky hooks.
He writes and produces his own music as well as producing music for others (Thundercat, amongst others).
He likes to wear bizarre outfits.
His live shows (with his band KNOWER) are outstanding. So are the few live snippets I saw of his new "Louis Cole Big Band Blowout" live performances he has done on and off lately.
He prefers singing in falsetto.
His funky songs are very funky.
He likes to wear sunglasses on stage and in videos.
Louis is very good at muliti-layered vocals.
He likes to take off his shirt and show his body.
He wrote music for an animation movie (Lego Ninjago).
He is not affiliated to a huge label but is an independent artist.
He is all about his music and a true workaholic.
He is known for his lofi video clips.
He has a beautiful muse (called Genevieve Artadi, his counterpart in his band KNOWER).
Y'all have to admit this starts off really promising, ain't it? But obviously there are differences as well:
Louis is from sunny L.A.
Unlike Prince, he is a very tall guy, and very skinny. In a YouTube comment he was dubbed "the funkiest barely disguised skeleton in the universe" (I am paraphrasing here). He uses his thin body to great comical effect though in his video's and life performances by doing all sorts of weird dancing and unusual body movements. He also likes to wear clothes with bones printed on them to emphasize his skinny body, or 'muscle' print on his pants and body.
Although his video's are lo-fi just like Prince's, Louis is actually a master of creating entertaining DIY music videos in support of his new songs. Distinctively lo-fi and lo-budget, but very well done. This is another area where Louis excels as a creative person.
His electrofunk tunes are often at an incredibly high tempo/pace, whereas Prince often used more moderate tempos.
Next to his banging electrofunk exercises Louis also has distinct folky dreampop vibe going, which Prince never really touched as far as I am aware. This is where their sound is really different IMO.
So actually -to be completely honest- Louis Cole doesn't sound much like Prince at all, apart from some songs in his repertoire maybe (the brilliantly titled "After The Load Is Blown" from his new album is an example).
What nevertheless makes him "The New Prince" for me is:
His dedication to his music.
His abilities as a multi-instumentalist and in the studio as a producer.
His abilty to blend completely different genres into quirky but catchy songs
His DIY approach where it comes to his music / videos /career.
Fantastic high energy live performances with ace jazz musicians.
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