Monosodium Glutamate FTW: Prins Póló On His New Record And Solo-Tour

Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson is a very busy man. Not only is he a farmer, producing the popular bulsur (vegan sausages) and sveitasnakk (vegetable chips), but he is also releasing his third album called “þriðja kryddið” under the name of his alter-ego Prins Póló, on April 27th. The release-concert will take place at Iðnó the same day, before the prince will embark on a 21-day solo-tour.

A life full of flavour

“Þriðja kryddið” translates to monosodium glutamate, generally known as MSG. It is used as a flavour enhancer in the food industry and according to Prins Póló, it is also a lifestyle, and a characteristic of our society and human behaviour in general. “MSG is the recipe for a comfortable life”, he writes on his Karolina Fund page where the album was crowd-funded. “We don’t want a complicated life. We desire to live life without much effort”.

The same but different

The eleven songs on the album will be more melancholic than we are used to from Prins Póló. “It will be similar in a way but a little darker”, he says. “Darker lyrics, darker music, darker everything, I think. I have also taken up the sound as well as the production by one or two levels. But in many ways I am working with the same.”

Half of the album was recorded in this garage by Svavar Pétur himself. The rest was recorded in Berlin with his producer Axel Flex Árnason.

“We don’t want a complicated life. We desire to live life without much effort.”

Performing songs for the first time

At the release-concert at Iðnó on April 27th we can expect the whole album to be played, along with older songs and—most likely—paper crowns. Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson from the wild electro-pop band FM Belfast will be joining Prins Póló on stage. “Most of the songs I haven’t performed live before so it’s a blend of stress and anticipation for me,” the self-crowned prince explains. “I think the songs are powerful and fun to play live, so I am looking forward to that.”

The prince and his guitar

On the following solo-tour, Prins Póló will serenade the audience of 12 different places. “The release-show at Iðnó will feature disco and dance versions of the songs but then I will go on an acoustic tour just by myself”, he says. “I am also looking very much forward to this kind of tour because you have the opportunity to establish a tighter relationship with the crowd.”

Chocolate bars = inspiration

Svavar Pétur found the name for his solo-project through the Polish chocolate bar that Icelanders love so much. “I was just taking a break from writing some music and I didn’t have the name for that folder on my computer,” he remembers. “I went out to the candy store, I bought myself a Prince Polo and I named the folder after the chocolate bar. I was on my way to make music that was kind of tee-hee in a way, so I think Prins Póló is a proper name for tee-hee music.” Nothing to argue with that.