Life’s always throwing surprises at you. Earlier this year, Dial Records, home of wistful techno bods Lawrence, Efdemin and more, announced that Pantha Du Prince would be releasing his third album for the label, the follow-up to 2007’s stunning This Bliss (still one of the very best albums released this decade, by FACT’s count), this year.

Well, now that won’t happen – because Pantha has signed to British indie-stution Rough Trade instead. We’re as surprised as Exclaim, who originally tipped us off to that news, but it’s nice to see Rough Trade buy beyond their comfort zone. Though to be fair, it’s not the first good signing they made this year: in January they snapped up Micachu for her superb debut album, Jewellery.

The as-yet-untitled follow-up to This Bliss is now scheduled for an early 2010 release.

Pantha Du Prince – Moonstruck