Ronan O'BrienIrish albums are essential to my listening. While O Emperor had previously appeared in my rotation, I can’t say I was overly impressed. However, stumbling across their debut album gave me plenty of things to reconsider.
O Emperor
O Emperor have an origin story relatable to many bands. Secondary school friends in Waterford, the five-piece performed under several monikers playing covers in pubs. After moving to Cork for college, the quintet evolved into O Emperor. While in Cork, the group were signed to Universal Music and released their critically-acclaimed debut, Hither Thither. This garnered immediate attention for the band, as it was shortly nominated for a Choice Prize Award following its release.
The band’s upward trajectory continued, building their own studio and releasing the follow-up Vitreous in 2013. While the momentum was heading in the right direction, the big break sadly never materialised for the band. Their final album, Jason was released in 2018 before they shut up shop. Unfortunately for the band, the high cost of living in Ireland outgrew the income brought in. Lead guitarist Alan Comerford and drummer Brendan Fennessy remained in Cork while bassist Richie Walsh, vocalist Phil Christie and Paul Savage sought new pastures.
Look What The Cat Dragged In
The unsettling opening guitars and drums of “Don Quixote“ are quickly dispelled by the smooth tones and rambunctious fills, serenaded by Phil Christie’s sneering vocals. Beautifully transitioning into falsettos, Christie’s voice touches the soul before an incredibly orchestrated interlude closes the track in style. An ambitious but confident start when you think this is the band’s introduction to the world.
The tempo gets more upbeat in the indie-folk “Po“, with great guitar work and straight-edged drums evoking a bouncy sound. Christie’s vocals are in a wheezy, high register at times, but at times overshadowed by the wonderful instrumentals. Whether intentional or not, I think it works incredibly well as the snippets of guitar and piano riffs deserve their own time in the limelight.
Late-Beatles inspiration is evident in the beautifully crafted “Sedalia“, opening with piano and McCartney-esque vocals from Christie. The song launches into an instrumental-heavy chorus, before the serenity returns. Both guitar and piano are in incredible harmony throughout and the emotions are rife. It gets so layered yet so calm, it’s a masterpiece.
Feathers of a Life
The album transitions back to soft folk in “Taloned Air“, with almost whispered vocals from Christie. Again, the instrumentals grow throughout, with some beautifully arranged piano and tom fills on the drums. The growth continues, with vocals and instrumentals becoming twitchy and more intense in sections, giving for a long yet enjoyable outro.
“Heisenberg“ follows with ghostly sounds of piano, chair creaks and Christie’s pillowy vocals. “Find me somewhere in between” he echoes, before the chorus of haunting backing vocals join in. It’s both calm and unsettling, from whispery vocals to off-key piano it’s a hard one to evaluate. Which strangely makes me like it even more.
Launching the album back to life comes “Don’t Mind Me“, with some beautifully upbeat piano and infectious vocals from Christie. Sounding like Chris Martin if he was actually good, it’s an emotionally-charged banger. Yet another wonderfully orchestrated piece, there are layers upon layers of lovable melodies. From a bass solo to slide guitar, the band filled every inch of space with coolness. Even the whistling outro is enjoyable.
Watching The Days Go By
More softness makes a return in “Catch-22“, with sparse piano and acoustic guitar accompanying Christie’s velvety vocals. Again, it’s emotional with feelings of acquiesce in the lyrics. From “Needles in a haystack and you can’t win” and “Running out of time where to begin”, the spirit of the track is evident. Another fine orchestral arrangement, with violins providing a further layer to the mood.
The mood remains relatively low in the appropriately titled “December“. The vocals are raspy and the guitars are utilised well to support the intermittent falsettos. It’s definitely not the most exciting track on the album, but the instrumental layers are impressive yet again. Depending on your mood, the screeching guitar outro can be grating, but the piano does enough to make it palatable.
“To The Sea“ is another serenading piece, with that usual guitar and piano combination. It’s a familiar style of opening used throughout, but it’s anything but boring or unoriginal. The backing vocals are heavenly and the song swells to some absolute highs. It’s interesting to say the least, and I’m not sure what exactly the band were going for here, but it’s pleasant nonetheless.
I Don’t Want To Die
Cosmic synths and smooth keys open “All Worked Out“, which feels slow until the marching snare is introduced. From this point, the track becomes melodic and melancholic with a really cool rock edge to it. It’s another track that grows in such intensity, evolving from early sparseness to a monumental sound in the outro with layers of trumpets blasting through.
The album closes with another beautifully titled “The Fat Lady Sings“. Christie returns back those whispery, muffled vocals accompanied by another sumptuous piano melody. In true O Emperor fashion, the song remains as anything but soft and sparse, with a crescendo of percussion and guitars making their presence. Coming full circle, the song closes without a huge flourish; coming to a gentle end instead.
Final Thoughts
Irish albums from time to time can be unoriginal or simply not good enough to make me want to actively return to them. While I did find that in my first introduction to O Emperor with their final album, I was completely blindsided by how impressive their debut album is.
There is so much depth to Hither Thither that it’s almost impossible to catch on first listen. From beautiful piano melodies to intelligently crafted orchestral sounds, this album gave me every reason to keep coming back to it. While it’s disappointing that the band succumbed to the impossible environment many artists face to survive today, their debut album will live with me as a seminal piece that will never cease to amaze
