Embrace - Road To Nowhere

Image Credit: Simon Walker

At the end of January, West Yorkshire’s finest anthem makers Embrace returned with their new single ‘Road To Nowhere’.  It kicks off their thirtieth anniversary year as a band, and the run up to their ninth studio album ‘Avalanche’, due for release June 12th via Cooking Vinyl.

Launching like a lost classic from their ‘Out of Nothing’ era, frontman Danny McNamara declares, “You say you're scared to leave me / But it hurts too much to say.” Sonically righteous yet lyrically toxic, Embrace once again proves that destructive relationship confessions set against euphoric melodies remain one of pop music’s most powerful contrasts.

When it seemed they had reached their limit, lead guitarist Richie McNamara turned to synths for fresh inspiration on ‘Refugees’, reimagining not just their sound but the very scope of what Embrace could be. In its closing moments here, he unleashes a fevered surge of sound that both disrupts and elevates their signature gospel-tinged anthems.

They go further than musical evolution: brother Danny unfurls a journey through and beyond, and these guitars serve as the tipping point as an old life fades and a new, more positive one emerges. With every note, what was once guttural rage steps aside, allowing the hearts and minds to recalibrate and move forward.

With age, so often comes a clamming up of creativity, of openness to new ideas, but not Embrace. They’re more porous to love than ever, allowing wave upon wave of sonic euphoria to flood the senses.

Thirty years of joy never stopped them dreaming.