Candidates

Liquid Wheel, you may recall, enjoyed a brief run of fame in the mid-’90s, Irish dance music’s most celebrated period. They flirted with the top 30 on sublime singles like ‘Blue’ and ‘Mutronik’ and established themselves as one of the few dance acts who really could cut it live. After dabbling in headstrong techno on a triumvirate of self-released singles towards the end of the decade, they retreated to the studio and began work on this, their long-awaited debut album.

Jay Oglesby, Paul O’ Hara and Lar Doyle are all grown-up now, and like most thirtysomethings who enjoyed a hedonistic youth immersed in club culture, their musical taste has also mellowed and matured. Cutting-edge technology is still their driving force, and to enhance their admittedly low-budget set-up they employed the eccentric and well-armed technological wizard Mister Spring as co-producer.

Spring’s genius is often obscured by his wilful self-indulgence, but on Candidates he’s reined himself in – the Wheelers’ unique and difficult-to-categorise constructions thus given an exquisite patina that’s a credit to all four participants, not least on the outstanding programming of the consistently fresh and funky beats – there’s not a sampled drum loop in sight. And the way he obscures all their lyrics by treating them with a vocoder cleverly adds mystique and texture.

There’s no obvious single, but the contagious chorus – one of the few samples herein, from Jon & Vangelis, fact fans – of the brassy and bold title track is hard to ignore. It soars to melodious orchestral climax and given the right edit it could be a radio hit. This and the radically experimental and schizophrenic ‘The Upsetter’ are the album’s stand-out tracks.

Judge Candidates as the product of the 12 years of Irish dance culture, and it makes you proud to have been along for the ride, even prouder to have contributed. Regard it as a newly opened avenue for Irish music as a whole, and you get very excited indeed.