Embrace Lava / Atlantic / 2005
Out of Nothing is a record that is brimming with life and promise.
It sounds like Embrace, a band that has had their fair share of professional hurdles (label changes, lukewarm responses from the public, etc.) have finally found their groove – the right producer (Youth), the right public (a U.S. audience that is increasingly enamored with the likes of Doves and Snow Patrol) and perhaps the right muse/musical guardian angel (in the band’s much-touted friendship with Chris Martin of Coldplay). Out of Nothing is an incredible Britpop record, full of Verve and a mix of the bombast of Oasis and the emotion of Coldplay.
Album opener “Ashes” is a wonderful introduction to the band, as vocalist Danny McNamara’s solid and expressive vocals carry the song through the soaring highs and the dramatic drop-offs. In a testament to just how much Embrace is influenced by the Coldplay of yesteryear (2000’s Parachutes), Martin himself penned the next song, the grand, sweeping “Gravity,” a song that Embrace endows with an emotional and musical weight that Coldplay could only hope to achieve.
This is not to say that Embrace are necessarily in need of such a guiding hand – as evinced by the heart-wrenching “Looking As You Are,” the band can craft emotionally affecting songs all on their own. What is so essential about Embrace is the way they manage to convey a level of feeling, while maintaining a solid musical presence. A song like “Looking as You Are” would not have half its heft, had it been sung by a band like Starsailor (in which case it would have sounded like a puddle of sad, soppy drivel).
Out of Nothing just keeps getting better as the album progresses. “Spell It Out” and “Near Life” are phenomenal, and “Glorious Day” is a sweet, melancholy ballad. While this disc is not anything avant-garde, and not trendy in the manner of Bloc Party or The Bravery, it is an amazingly earnest and well-executed record for hardcore fans of Britpop who’ve felt a hole in their lives since the Verve broke up and Oasis started…well, not being Oasis anymore. Out of Nothing is a fine, immensely satisfying effort that is can be appreciated by music aficionados and novices alike.
-- Jessica Netishen, 06/14/05
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