Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate)

In 2006 Keith Latinen, who handles vocals, guitar, and songwriting duties, launched Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) as a solo venture intended to restore the fragile, emotionally charged textures associated with earlier emo acts such as Mineral and American Football. Working alongside his wife Cathryn Latinen, the project’s sole permanent guitarist, and a continually shifting lineup of drummers and bassists, he has carefully reconstructed the elaborate, sorrowful mid-’90s aesthetic. Although the band issued a steady stream of split singles and EPs in the years immediately after its formation, the first full-length album, What It Takes to Move Forward, appeared only in 2009; its successor, You Will Eventually Be Forgotten, followed in 2014.