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Story: Jack Foley
ASK Embrace vocalist, Danny McNamara, about the recording of
their fourth album, Out Of Nothing, and he’ll have
no qualms in admitting it proved something of a challenge.
In fact, says McNamara, 'it was very, very, very hard'.
The normally combative McNamara met his match in producer, Youth,
responsible for early Embrace hit singles All You Good Good
People and Come Back To What You Know, and now engaged
as full time producer on Out Of Nothing, Embrace’s
first album for Independiente.
Youth proved to be just the right combination of visionary and
enforcer to get the very best results from Embrace.
Out Of Nothing is being hailed as 'a triumphant return
to form'.
Panoramic in scope (as Danny says, 'the big tunes are back')
and featuring McNamara’s best vocal performance to date,
Out Of Nothing is their most impressive work yet.
Featuring ten Embrace compositions – along with the single
Gravity, written by long time friend, Chris Martin –
Out Of Nothing includes the mighty four to the floor
monster Ashes and the title track, one of the most emotional
and cathartic ballads Embrace have ever written.
The full track-listing as follows:
Ashes; Gravity; Someday; Looking As You Are; Wish ‘Em All
Away; Keeping; Spell It Out; A Glorious Day; Near Life; Out Of
Nothing.
Tour Dates
In addition to three regional warm up dates and a sold out show
at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on September 3, Embrace have announced
a further seven shows, kicking off on September 29, in Newcastle.
Full dates are as follows:
Sept 29 - Newcastle University
Sept 30 - Glasgow Barrowlands
Oct 1 - Manchester Academy
Oct 3 - Nottingham Rock City
Oct 4 - Sheffield University Foundry
Oct 5 - Bristol Academy
Oct 7 - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
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Talking of the new single, Gravity,
which heralds the album’s release, is a song that bears
all the hallmarks of a Danny McNamara composition.
Expressive, panoramic in scope and featuring McNamara’s
most powerfully emotive vocal to date, Gravity would
sit comfortably alongside any one of Embrace songs. And yet it
was written by Coldplay singer and songwriter Chris Martin.
The decision to record another artist’s song might seem
surprising were it not for a long standing friendship between
Martin and McNamara dating back to when Coldplay supported Embrace
at the Blackpool Empress Ballroom, in 2000.
Martin originally wrote the song for Coldplay but as it developed
it became clear to him that the song might be better suited to
Embrace.
As he explains: "We’ve always loved Embrace and Danny
is one of my best friends. When we wrote Gravity we thought it
sounded far too much like them for us, but not too much like them
for them, so I asked Danny if he wanted the song and that was
that."
On hearing the song, McNamara felt it was just what was missing
from the album.
"There was no out and out love song, something there’d
always been in the past.” he says.
"You could say there was a Gravity shaped hole waiting to
be filled.”
And while he admits to some reservations about covering some
one else’s song he’s had to concede that Gravity sounds
like 'the best ballad I never wrote'.
Gravity will be released on August 30, prior to the
album’s release on September 13.
Produced by long time collaborator Youth, and in it’s final
stages of recording, the album will feature 10 Embrace compositions
in addition to the single.
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