Four years ago former Your Arch Enemies man Dara Ryder decided that it was time for a change. Opting to leave behind the garage pop sound that had been his old band’s calling-card, he struck out alone and started to delve into whiskey-soaked folk music, writing a handful of heartsick songs that he debuted under the guise of Abacus Dare.

Fast forward just under half a decade and the Dublin-based Ryder is now performing as Dying Embers and preparing to unleash his spell-binding first offering At War With The Eskimos out into
the wild.
Wisely deciding not to rush-release his material, the singer/songwriter spent the last few years letting his tunes grow and mature, roping in musician mates along the way to augment his ideas and put some flesh on his skeletal sounds. After first starting out life as an album of just words and guitar, Ryder’s record has morphed into a musical tour de force calling to mind the Divine Comedy at their darkest and the Bunnymen at their most vital.
Opening with the Phil Spector-esque ‘Cold Heart’ (complete with drum snaps), At War With The Eskimos flirts with country (‘The Well’) and string-laden murder ballads (‘Jody Rolled The Bones’) while regaling us with tales of unrequited love (“I don’t care how drunk you are / ‘Cos drunken love’s still sweet,” muses Ryder on the aching lament ‘We Wait In Vain’).
As stirring as the Morricone horns and steel guitars are, though, Ryder’s voice is the star of the show. Filled with passion and emotion, his cracked croon, particularly on ‘I Will,’ takes a sad song and makes it better, creating a surprisingly uplifting record that you’ll want to play again and again.