Embrace - Drawn From Memory (2000)

The McNamara brothers, Danny and Richard, certainly have the occasional knack for coining technicolor beauties. They showed us this with their wonderful debut, the Fireworks EP. While the subsequent long player 'The Good Will Out' never stood a chance of repeating the magic it had moments that still added a glaze to ones eyes. Drawn from Memory, the follow up, would be the true test of their worth. Embrace specialise in that epic take on indie. Why produce a song that's 3 minutes long when you can tack on a few extra to give the impression that you're a serious artist. Sometimes this approach backfires to a spectacular degree but when it works, it works a treat and you can almost forgive the brothers their incessant indulgences and inflated ego's.

'Drawn From Memory' contains a mixed bunch of ballads to fall in love with and rawk outs to break up over. 'The Love It Takes' that kicks off the album is a breathless success. A spacey tour de force lingers until a genuinely warm vocal melody from Danny has you eating out of his hands. As the song hits full throttle your heart starts to ache at the beauty of it all. The guitars are fuzzy, but in a charming type of way and the climax is a throwback to a time when instruments in turmoil equalled a ravishing listen. 'You're Not Alone' is marginally less inspiring but the trumpet that perpetrates throughout is used with such expertise you'd half expect Martin Carr to have his name included in the credits. A close to inspiring tune that manages to slip in a xylophone without making it sound in the least bit like Christmas.

Pity then that 'Save Me' is such a disposable piece of ear candy with an exceedingly short shelf life. The paradox here is that it initially intrigues. The keyboard sequences are quirky enough to give it an EMF like dance sensibility but the clubbed together chorus becomes a little cloying after a few listens. 'Hooligan' is bred from the same stock even if it is endowed with a classier edge. Suitable for one of those Richard Ashcroft forays down a suburban sidewalk it proves to be a good sparing partner for the liquorice allsorts that prevail elsewhere on the album. Like 'Save Me' this is a one trick pony that is perfect for party shakedowns but slightly less at home as the festivities catch fire. The albums title track opens sumptuously with a piano/string odyssey that could only be enhanced if a youthful Kate Bush jumped through your window and started into a 'Wuthering Heights' dance impression. It's pretty special and the vocals served up in its wake are brooding, even if they falter a little towards the end. 'Bunker Song' is an odds and ends pastiche that splices a searing riff with some interesting string arrangements. There are no words except for an incoherent muffle near the end but the whole thing comes off like something Radiohead would have dreamed up post Ok Computer.

From time to time Embrace can't help but try and be Oasis. They should know the grand prize is theirs when they choose the fragile approach, letting the melodies work their magic. 'New Adam New Eve' is packed to the hilt with pointless chords, fuzzy vocals and a chorus that while not completely forgettable would have been best kept for a throwaway B-side. 'Yeah You' is similarly all faux attitude and doesn't really sit comfortably within the bands profile. It's freight speeding down a well travelled track, not at all bad just a tad tired and familiar even for the trainspotters amongst us. The album does a U-turn as 'Liars Tears' reaches for the hankies. The atmosphere is set by an antique theremin, while a barely audible acoustic guitar lets the lush vocals take centre stage. McNamara's voice has a soft velvet fluidity that is engineered to be aesthetically perfect for breaking hearts. Embrace succeed when they turn down the lights and figure imaginatively on lives little quandaries. If you could hear 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You' now you'd likely throw off those shoes that don't quite fit you and become engaged in little pretty patterns with a body more used to daily sessions in front of an LCD screen. Yep it's escapism of the musical kind, sweet and freshly brewed to give you a jolt. Pretty unique musicianship that the band would do well to exploit with greater consistency.

To end on a high Embrace bow out on a low. 'I Had A Time' shuffles in like a little boy who has just secretly consumed all the cooking chocolate needed to bake his birthday cake. This is music stripped of its necessaries, so innocent and affecting, miles from all those noisy inefficient moments that needlessly perforate eardrums. The tune has the colour of a desert sky at dusk, just imagine that mirage really exists and pull up a stool to enjoy the view. The wooden flute performs wonders as it finds a way to enter your consciousness through an opening in your head. If Embrace could only be themselves then it is entirely likely that they'd stand a good chance of making it. Their reluctance to go with their own instincts only extenuates the shadow cast by their contemporaries. 'Drawn From Memory' is good album with several standout tracks. If the bum fluff that their camouflaged attempts at sounding hip could be removed then they stand a chance. But then again as they so eloquently put it themselves, their weakness is none of our business.

Rating: 7/10

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