O Emperor: Vitreous

Three years on from the release of their much celebrated, Choice Music Prize-nominated debut record Hither Thither, Waterford’s O Emperor unveil their latest full length slab of wax.

The good news: the quintet effortlessly side-step any difficult second album issues by being every bit as expansive and engaging as on their initial salvo. Recorded in their own studio in Cork, Vitreous is a bombastic, sometimes bizarre offering that is bursting at the seams with ideas, making it full of excitement and uncertainty at every turn. Starting with the off-kilter lullaby ‘Grandmother Mountain’, the hushed, Lisa Germano-like pianoled hymn makes way for a string-laden mid-section which Jeff Lynne would sell his aviator shades for, warming us up nicely for the inventive insanity ahead. Space age future pop (‘Brainchild’) meets Nicky Chinn-indebted glam re-imaginings (‘Land Of The Living,’ ‘Holy Fool’) over the course of nine songs. While the likes of the sprawling ‘This Is It’ impress, O Emperor are at their best when they’re at their most direct, as on the tightly-wound ‘Contact.’ A classic in the making, it boasts a sharp riff and a stellar vocal. It’s a high point on a very fine record.