Watching an artist dismantle their own machinery to start from scratch is a rare spectacle, and it’s exactly what we’re witnessing with the man who calls himself Prince Johann George V. He didn’t just walk back into the studio for this one. He seems to have dragged a decade of industry baggage through the front door and set it on fire. A nineteen-track effort titled “Jorge.” The artist is formerly known for the cold, industrial skeletons of his debut record, Gravity, has emerged with something far more rhythmic. It’s a record that smells like the humid, neon-lit dance floors of Jakarta and the rain-slicked streets of Hamburg all at once.
Running over an hour, “Jorge” is a sprawling collection that’s finally letting all his disparate influences out of the cage. For those who grew up on the Prince’s heavier electronic loads, the transition to the pop-heavy, EDM-infused pulse of “Jorge” might feel like a shock, but it’s a necessary one. You can hear the echoes of a guy who spent his youth listening to the melodic structures of Elton John and the stadium-sized grit of Guns N’ Roses. It’s a strange cocktail on paper, but in the headphones, it starts to make a weird kind of sense.
The title track, “Jorge,” opens the proceedings with a swagger. It’s a slow-burn groove that builds a foundation, establishing a mood that’s thick with atmosphere. It sets a high bar for a record that refuses to be pigeonholed. By the time we hit “Turn Around,” the production tightens up. There’s a synth-driven urgency here that reminds me of the high-energy pop that used to dominate the airwaves back in the days. Urgent, melodic, and built for the long haul. It’s easy to see why this material has already moved thousands of units in Indonesia. It has that universal frequency that works regardless of what language you’re speaking.
Prince Johann George V hasn’t been shy about his personal struggles, and that vulnerability peeks through the production on tracks like “He Said Don’t Call Me Now.” It’s perhaps the most narrative moment on the disc, balancing a sense of emotional distance with a persistent, driving beat. There’s a cinematic quality to the arrangement here, suggesting a story that started in a grey European city and ended up under a tropical sun. It doesn’t lean on the usual superlatives found in modern pop. Instead, it relies on a steady, workmanlike pulse that keeps the listener anchored even when the experimental flourishes start to fly.
As we move into the belly of the album, “You Got The Love” is a smart piece of programming, providing a solid, recognizable anchor amidst the more varied textures of the record. Then there’s “Free,” a track the artist himself calls an explosive gym-ready heater. It’s lean, muscular, and entirely functional. This leads naturally into “RaRa,” which brings a different kind of flair to the table, further cementing the idea that “Jorge” is more of a full-course banquet.
After a few spins of this record, what really sticks with me is its flat-out refusal to pick a single lane. Prince Johann George V shifts from the industrial-adjacent thrum of “Atmosphere” to the more straightforward, radio-ready sensibilities of “Baby Boy” with a confidence that’s hard to ignore. The production is clean, and you can still feel the human hand at work, someone who is clearly comfortable steering the space in a late-night club.
“Jorge” is a dense, varied collection that manages to be cohesive despite having nineteen different directions to go. Prince Johann George V has delivered a record that’s a reflection of his own wide-ranging tastes—a bit of the Beatles’ knack for melody, a dash of Arabic flair borrowed from influences like Cheb Khaled, and a whole lot of electronic heart. It’s a solid, well-crafted re-entry into the musical atmosphere, and it suggests hehas finally found the sound he was looking for all along.
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