With a chosen moniker like O Emperor, you’d be forgiven for expecting the Waterford natives to have delusions of grandeur. ‘Po’ is a taster of upcoming first album Hither Thither and is a more polished effort than the majority of Irish debuts. At the midway point ‘Po’ breaks into a quick-paced drum beat complete with 70s style guitar riffage, seeing the band run dangerously close to AOR turf. ‘Po’ is pleasing to the ear without being particularly ground-breaking and, with their yearnings towards the epic, O Emperor seem uncannily older than their years. Boasting slick production along with meticulous arrangements, O Emperor have ticked off the right boxes to create a post-rock classic but with the lack of real personality something is still amiss.
Words Lisa Hughes
