Many bands have had to resort to the wonders of modern technology to continue their collaborative creativity over the last 18 months but for Emperor of Ice Cream, making music this way became an even more heightened process.
After re-emerging last year, almost thirty years after forming, the band decided to mark this second chapter by putting out a revamped version of their debut album, an album that Sony had shelved 25 years previously and a compilation of their early EP’s.
“It’s a strange task, to make music with people you haven’t been in the same room as for over two decades, but the challenge was a welcome one,” says John “Haggis” Hegarty about the process which saw the different elements of their current recordings assembled in Cork, New York and Amsterdam.
But the results speak for themselves, and Weather Vane is a gently shimmering, slightly blissed-out, sunshine-infused piece of indie-pop one that seems to glide past in front of the listener rather than try anything as crass and uncool as trying to grab your attention. That’s the thing with beauty, it doesn’t try, it just is.
It comes with a slightly darker b-side in the form of High Rise, Low Rise, a more mercurial beast and a tale of kids growing up as outsiders and misfits and how such a start in life can make you view and approach the world in a very singular and non-conformist way.
A great brace of singles and a great calling card for this exciting new sonic chapter.
