While all the comeback talk of recent years has centred on Morissey, the return of Embrace has been perhaps even more astonishing. Having gone from media darlings to labelless outcasts (the non-songwriting members going back to their day jobs) in the space of three albums, few would have predicted that Out Of Nothing would catapult them back into the limelight so dramatically, even given Coldplay’s handy absence from the scene.
Yet it was not only a fantastic record but one that also did double platinum business. Few can blame them for either feeling pretty chipper about things or heading back to the studio sharpish to maintain that momentum.
Within the first few bars of ‘No Use Crying’, it’s clear that This New Day has no intention of messing the blueprint. It does all the things that a classic Embrace track is supposed to – swells the heart, makes you want to punch the air, that sort of thing. The band sound suitably up for it and Danny McNamara’s vocals have made a noticeable leap forward. It’s ace. As is first single ‘Nature’s Law’, ‘You Will Hit The Target’ and all the first five tracks. The boys are back in town and all’s right with the world.
Somewhere around half time however, something happens and the album moves from classic Embrace to Embrace-by-numbers. The requisite factors are still there, yet the record ends up sounding just a little hollow. Maybe exuberance took over from songwriting or maybe the whole thing was too rushed, but it gets stuck in a formula that it can’t get out of.
Not that you’d blame them – the last time they experimented, on third album If You’ve Never Been, they got dumped – but it would be nice to hear some more shade along with the blinding light.
Ultimately, This New Day is a record that doesn’t really move Embrace much further along the path. Those who hate them ( especially) will sharpen their knives, those who adore them will lap this up. The truth, however, lies somewhere in-between.