Embrace – Embrace

Embrace have been absent from the music scene for a while: their last album release This New Day reached number 1 in the UK charts back in 2006, with the band taking a few years out before starting work on what would become the Embrace, their self-titled sixth studio album. The band explained this eight-year wait as a determination to excel themselves and their previous success, and the effort seems to have paid off.

There are quite a variety of sounds on Embrace, and it’s hard to pin down which sums up the album. It manages to be simultaneously light and dark, with heavier bass and guitar lines blended well with lighter melodic sections throughout and tempo varying not just from song to song, but also within the confines of a single track. Listening to the album, you are never quite sure what is going to come next, but it never sounds mismatched – all the various sounds, instruments and rhythms come together with lead singer Danny McNamara’s vocals to make a collection of music that works fantastically altogether, but that can also be enjoyed as individual offerings.

Lead single Refugees is a soaring track with a great shift halfway through to add a slight electronica sound, with Quarters also featuring electronica influences, intertwined with a heavy rhythm and a much rockier timbre. A Thief on My Island is one of the more melancholy, heavier songs on the album, and has a great punch to it as it builds. Embrace is a fantastic mix of sound and vibrancy, and well worth a listen.

Amy McLelland

Embrace was released on 28^th April 2014, for further information or to order the album visit here.

Watch the video for Refugees here: