Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 27/03/06
Label: Independiente

The sweetest thing about Embrace's comeback was not that it felt like they'd earned it, with wilderness years and a couple of out-of-favour albums, but because the song that started it all, Chris Martin's "Gravity", wasn't even the best track on "Out Of Nowhere". Embrace were always terrific songwriters, even if Danny McNamara's vocals sometimes didn't soar like he clearly wished they would, or if the production values didn't match the band's soulful aspirations. Here, however, on their fifth studio album, songwriters Danny and brother Richard are joined by not only the rest of the band but also producer Youth (credited as Martin Glover) on eight of the 10 tracks on offer.

Youth's influence is not subtle. He's worked with the band on and off since "The Good Will Out" in 1998, but this time around he's apparently reworked compositions and demanded lyrical rewrites. It's not apparent on opener "No Use Crying", a bombastic, business as usual anthem on which Danny's voice soars and the band ape late '80s U2. But by track two, the nearly-Number One "Nature's Law", the changes begin to manifest themselves. The soppy piano could have come from a Christina Aguilera ballad, the choir on the chorus is superfluous and what could have been another "Fireworks" is - yup - a damp squib. That this is now their most successful single to date is very disappointing.

The U2 influence resurfaces on "Target", "Celebrate" and the closing title track, perhaps unsurprising given that Youth has remixed Bono & co, but it overwhelms the material. Embrace have always been at their best when articulating heartache on their own terms, Danny's emotions bursting out of his chest and the band trying to match him. Now, with stadium-sized production, it all sounds so-so, too slick to be evocative, too professional to have any charm. Live, there's little doubt, these tracks will find their own groove and grow, but here they're like show dogs, primped and primed and hard to love. Worse still, "Sainted", "Exploding Machines" and "Even Smaller Stones" see them experiment with Euro-style rock without much success, flailing between Depeche Mode and early A-ha.

The two McNamara-only songs - "I Can't Come Down" and "The End Is Near" - are an understated slowie and heartfelt crowd-rouser respectively, polished to an unconvincing shine - imagine suddenly seeing the band tanned and attired like Ricky Martin and you'll get the gist. Embrace have finally got the standard of production they've always wanted, but it's squeezed the life out of their songs. Perhaps shabby aspiration is just a good look for their songs - it's painfully obvious that Youth's style is a faux pas.

    by Emma Morgan