Site In Beta..

FRIDAY DEC 16TH - CHRISTCHURCH TRISKEL, CORK

Support from Hush War Cry
Doors 8pm
Tickets €14/€12 from Triskel Arts

SATURDAY DEC 17TH - BUTTON FACTORY, DUBLIN

Support from Katie Kim
Doors 7.30pm
Tickets €17 from Ticketmaster

WEDNESDAY DEC 28TH - FORUM, WATERFORD

Support from Katie Kim & Solar Taxi
Doors 9.30pm
Tickets €15 from SeatAdvisor

After a hugely successful headline tour last April, O Emperor will return for a select three-date tour, their final appearances of 2011. The shows in Cork, Dublin and Waterford will see the band premiere much of their brand new material as well as highlights from their highly successful debut Hither Thither, which was released in October 2010 and subsequently nominated for the Choice Music Prize (Irish Album of the Year).

As Irish debuts go, its in a league of its own.
The Irish Times

A sumptuous and wondrous debut from a band with a frighteningly bright future.
The Sunday Business Post

Following the release of their album and a special orchestral arrangement of the song Sedalia (performed and filmed live with the RTE Concert Orchestra), the band have toured extensively both at home and abroad throughout 2011, including an appearance at the prestigious SXSW showcase festival in Austin, Texas.

The band are currently working on material for their much anticipated second album and a European release of Hither Thither is scheduled for early next year.

Check out Facebook for further details.

---

There is a sense of quiet,
reserved confidence about Hither Thither, O Emperors debut LP (nominated for Choice Music Prize 2010). Many commentators have noted that it sounds more like the recording of a band on their third or fourth album, such is the display of maturity and self-awareness on show. This may be testament to the fact the band grew up together as childhood friends, discovering the same records, learning the same tunes and playing in the same venues with different bands in a thriving local music scene. You could say that although this record is their first, it is the result of many years of growing together musically, uncovering a collective identity and an acute awareness of the nuances that made their favourite records so special.



Hither Thither is big, bold and ambitious, spanning boundless musical territory in its journey of 43 minutes. On listening from beginning to end, it leaves the impression that this a band who have come to collectively adore the heyday of the album format. The diversity on display is striking. From songs like Don Quixote (a dense production featuring a stunning, lush string arrangement by pianist Philip Christie), Po (an elusive tale of imaginery childhood friends set against a driving 70s style production) and Dont Mind Me (a gracefully melodic, sun-kissed affair, with vocal harmonies shared by all five members) to the albums quiter, more introspective moments of Sedalia (a plaintive narrative with an unexpected psychedelic shift), Heisenberg (an eerily minimalistic piano-led composition) and The Fat Lady Sings (a dramatic send-off that at times hints at a taste for the avant-garde), Hither Thither is an album of dense, sprawling beauty: a collection that is diverse while remaining focused on an overriding aesthethic.

A journey from Hither to Thither indeed.