O. Children/ O. Children

O Children
O Children
(Deadly People)

O Children were signed by Deadly People just five minutes after the band left the stage after a show back in February 2009. It’s not hard to see why. Since then, the band have built a fevered cult following. It’s not hard to see why.
Their sound thunders. It’s dense and thick. Vocalist Tobi O’Kandi’s silken vocal chords are encased in searing guitars. This voice tricks the ears, it’s deeper than expected. This aesthetic, this album, works to great and unsettling effect.
However, people are always looking for a band to replace their defunct favourites. The press clamours, searching for the ‘next Nirvana’, or someone to resurrect the corpse of Ian Curtis. These are pernicious myths. It would be foolish to dump such expectations on shoulders as young as O Children’s.
On the one hand, we can rant, excited about the sheer quality of this music. On the other, we must make sure not to pressure future output into being disappointing or its listeners into being disappointed.
‘Dead Disco Dancer’ is sultry, bass-led, baritone-intoned. It is, simply, a dark pop song. Less simply, it’s punctuated by post-punk backing vocals- morbid and brooding and slick. ‘Ruins’ is cryptic and unapologetically epic. The song’s main book slithers out after almost four minutes, glaringly confident, mournful, warning of some exciting undefined danger.
‘Pray The Soul Away’ references a child’s bedtime prayer, but there’s no comfort here. This album is sonorous, despairing, compelling. It’s crushed with eyeliner and strikingly bleak.