O Emperor, one of the finest Irish bands of recent times, are planning an assault on the UK market, beginning in September.
The band, whose debut album, Hither Thither, was nominated for the Choice Prize in Ireland, are set to release their Lizard EP through the Dublin indie label Trout Records. The EP will be available for download and in vinyl format.
The band will be releasing ‘The Sky Is Your Oyster’ as the first single in the UK. A full promotional campaign is planned to support the record, which will be followed by select UK dates towards the end of November. The single is also set for Irish release.
The band has consistently been raved about by Irish critics, including our own Edwin McFee, who gave last single ‘Switchblade’ a glowing review earlier this year.
Now the interest has shifted across the Irish Sea.
"O Emperor sound like the Beatles might if they had formed 50 years later,” the Irish Echo music correspondent, Colleen Taylor, wrote, before adding that they look like them too! "One of their biggest hits, ‘Sedalia', a ballad-like piano track, reminisces as Lennon reincarnated with a modern twist. There is a real sense of harmonization in their tracks overall, as well as a subtle attention to guitar notes… O Emperor offers a traditional take on rock music, but they don’t shy away from some alternative and electro ornamentation either: they seem to be grounded fully in past and present music.
"Rather than being a tiresome reprise of one of rock music’s most beloved classics, O Emperor offer something refreshing: a return to what works what it comes to great music.”
Trout Records is also home to Paddy Hanna, Spies and Tandem Felix.