Page 13 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE OCTOBER 2014

RGG October 2014 - p.13
NOV
29
If coming back means losing sight of what you were
there for in the first place there’s really no percent
age in returning In an age that’s produced more
comebacks than the Boomerang Olympics it’s easy
to treat regenerations with a degree of scepticism
In the case of Embrace however rather than grab
bing at the coattails of former glories a seven year
hiatus was precipitated by the most commercially
successful high point in their career Having notched
up another number one album and scored their high
est placing in the UK singles chart with Nature’s
Law the band simply decided to head back home to
their roots in West Yorkshire and take a clean break
The album This New Day being a false dawn the
five piece strode into the sunset with success still
snapping at their heels Curious behaviour for a
band whose debut The Good Will Out was one
of the fastest selling British albums ever But for
some success is not the pinnacle of pursuit…
“We were a bit fried after the last album ” singer
Danny McNamara says “Things went really well
from a commercial point of view but I think we lost
sight of what we were about and what we really
wanted to do
“We were getting bigger and bigger we’d had our
biggest ever single and it just didn’t feel right This
New Day just felt like a bit of a let down But the
thing is albums are just a snapshot of where you’re
at and I feel this album more than makes up for the
disappointment of the previous one ”
Eschewing the easy option it’s reassuring to know
there are still bands out there who won’t compro
mise on quality; or at least when they do – albeit un
wittingly – they have the self possession to walk
away and find some perspective
“You can tend to get swallowed up in the mechanics
of it all ” Danny reflects “We just got to a stage
where we didn’t really recognise ourselves We just
needed a break from it and needed to regroup ”
And regroup they did but not in the egalitarian
manner in which the last album was made – essen
tially a studio based group effort – Danny and
brother Richard instead returning to their solo writ
ing mandates producing over tracks in the in
terim – ten of which make up the monolith that is
their latest calling card the eponymous Embrace
The double A side single featuring ‘In The End’ and
‘Quarters’ is set for release on November th and
will be the final
single to be taken
from the band’s
Top album 'Em
brace' released
earlier in the year
Catch Embrace
live @ Wolver
hampton Wulfrun
Hall on November
th
EMBRACE
“Coming back to what you know won’t mean a thing…”