embrace.

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It's a tune he wrote a while ago and gave to Embrace cos he thought it was more them than Coldplay. I've heard a evrsion of Martin doing it solo w/piano which is... dull. I'm reliably informed that Embrace's version has "hair on its knackers". Fourth album out on 13th September.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Chris Martin fancies himself as the British Linda Perry.

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:15 (nineteen years ago) link

He does, doesn't he? Jamelia, Embrace, Ash, The Streets...

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:26 (nineteen years ago) link

It could be good. I don't know which Ash song he wrote, but the album's not bad, Dry Your Eyes is top.. as for Jamelia, well the song is terrible, and doubly so because it's her next single (instead of the brilliant "Taxi") . Linda Perry has done some quite good stuff (well, considering how bad 4 Non Blonds were..), and as such that's probably a more charitable comparison than he deserves.. but anyway I'm looking forward to it even if I only have the first Embrace album...

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Pick up Drawn From Memory if you see it cheap, and email me for a list of b-sides I'd suggest downloading if yr interested.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:43 (nineteen years ago) link

EMBRACE UK IS THE PREFERRED NAME THANKS

― 0r4l R0b3rt5 (ex machina), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:45 (nineteen years ago) link

The singles off Drawn From Memory (Hooligan, You're Not Alone) are what made me lose interest! That Playing God feature of yours does indicate that perhaps there are treasures from later on, though.

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:48 (nineteen years ago) link

"Embrace UK" sound like a UKIP slogan, Oral, plus Ian mackaye didn't have a problem with it, so neither should you.

Ed, there are definitely plenty of burried gems from later on.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:52 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

The album is, frankly, utterly surprising. I was expecting very little after the last one (two great songs bookending a load of lacklustre ones, rushed and ignored by the label whilst recording it), and I've been knocked off my feet. it is VERY strong and I'm pretty confident it will do incredibly well. The two things that keep jumping up as comparison points are The Bends Urban Hymns (neither of which I particularly like, and indeed the latter I very much dislike, but you know what I mean), or maybe A Northern Soul, but much more positive, much bigger tunes, much more uplifting, and while it doesn't really sound like either it certainly has that feeling of utterly contemporary enormousness. The Chris Martin tune is a red-herring, and probably the weakest song on the record, but even so fits very nicely, and I've become rather fond of it in a condescending way (haha). Plus there's a b-side on the single called "Too Many Times" which is like Timbaland producing The Verve, insanalist ryhthms and huge, evil guitars. The album (and TMT) is produced by Youth, and he's done a magnificent job - it sounds incredible, huge and detailed and alive and spontaneous.

Just thought you'd like to know. Except most of you wont because they're (still) the most maligned and misunderstood band in the country with the most fucked-up relationship with the press ever.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 08:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I heard their new single on the internet the other day and was surprised at how bad it was even compared to a song like 'Hooligan'.

Probably the only Britpop band to use bagpipes on their first single.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 10:03 (nineteen years ago) link

To be fair, Hooligan wasn't very good (sorry Nick), but I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You was very good indeed.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 10:03 (nineteen years ago) link

Bagpipes?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Nick clearly needs some company in Embrace appreciation here. I like them. I never really understood all the extreme hatred directed their way. Although I do tend to favour the big ballads, they can rock out when necessary. My personal favourite track (b-side to something) is You've Only Got To Stop To Get Better. Great use of brass. Fave ballad probably If You Feel Like A Sinner, but I'll probably change my mind...

I like the new single, and I'm jealous of your access to the album pre-release (my journo connections here don't extend to Independiente sadly). I hope it's as good as you say, Nick.

I tried to get into that secret gig #10 page but no luck. Oh well.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 2 August 2004 15:34 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Just to reiterate... The new album really is very good indeed. I am very, very pleasantly surprised. I'm still listening to it pretty much every day; the onyl thing I've listened to nearly this much this year is the BP album. It will surprise a lot of people, and, I think, do very very well.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 23 August 2004 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Out today. Not that ILM cares, but LOTS of other people will. Piscesboy, Mr Bolton, etcetera - head out and buy it.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 13 September 2004 08:33 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah i might actually. even danny mac says
he doesn't like the last lp. i like the single,
for an indie tune like.

― piscesboy, Monday, 13 September 2004 09:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Glad to see this thread back - only to show pride in the fact that the big first single they were struggling to write was finally written by someone else.

― ___ (___), Monday, 13 September 2004 10:20 (nineteen years ago) link

There are a few gems on the album, actually. "Spell It Out" and "Keeping" are, er, keepers, for me.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 13 September 2004 10:22 (nineteen years ago) link

Interview here - http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=1225

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 13 September 2004 11:31 (nineteen years ago) link

I've just been told that the album's already gone gold, meaning it's shifted 100,000 since yesterday morning.

And I still don't understand why ___ is hung up about "the big single" - if Embrace didn't have scruffy hair and guitars then no one would be bothered at all about them saying things like "we need to write a big single", or, indeed, having a single written for them by someone else. Whinging about that kind of thing is bizarrely rockist for ILM, surely?

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 08:39 (nineteen years ago) link

i suppose the thinking being that indie types complain about pop stars being manufactured and talentless so much that there must be some gloating now that one of "their lot" succumbs to the same "sin".

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 08:58 (nineteen years ago) link

i think gold denotes the number of copies ordered in by the shops, rather than bought by the punters (chart position the other way around, and frequently contradicts the other accordingly - ie. an artist with a lower chart position might go gold before someone in a higher position).

but still, it's pretty impressive at this stage in their career to go gold this early. that's not to say i actually *like* their music though.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:04 (nineteen years ago) link

maybe embrace are the david james of brit rock?

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:06 (nineteen years ago) link

embrace=neil shipperley

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:08 (nineteen years ago) link

The thing is that Embrace were never meant to be an indie band - they were always about selling loads of records and being everywhere. All the big choruses, handclaps, la-la-las and ba-ba-bas; they're all pop accoutrements. That's why real indie snobs fucking hate them, because they're not snide and indie enough. And lapsed indie kids who are now pop/dance kids can't like them because of the residual hangover.

I was gonna say Micky Hazard.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:09 (nineteen years ago) link

And yeah, the 100,000 is shipped rather than sold thus far, but Weller is only 100 copies ahead in the midweeks (or was an hour ago when I got the text).

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:10 (nineteen years ago) link

they are indie though, like the thrills, like weller, because the 'talent gap' is in operation. meaning? 'they can't sing? doesn't matter! they *want* to sing.' chris martin can write a tune though.

― Dead Man, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Britney Spears can't sing!

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:19 (nineteen years ago) link

perhaps, but she plays to her strengths, ie you might not *notice* with her. on the original 'good good people' you *really* noticed!!

― Dead Man, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:22 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, but the original AYGGP was a demo! I fully accept Embrace's weaknesses - I've told them about it to their face often enough - but they've made a really, really fucking good album this time out, and I'm eager for them not to be hamstrung by received wisdom and value judgements based on past failings.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:27 (nineteen years ago) link

embrace suck. 'proper' music ain't it? ain't it? sheesh. they are the poor man's ocean colour scene. which is alright. i guess. but i preferred small faces to humble pie. i guess they are like the indie jamelia or britney cause they got a songwriter in to get them the big hit. that's the most interesting thing about embrace in like? seven years?

(evoke fury of fanboy nick - see below)

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:30 (nineteen years ago) link

haha i was waiting for doomie to show up!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, Doomie, that'd be why your boss came crawling to them for an interview and agreed to pull the negative album review when Danny told him to fuck off.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:35 (nineteen years ago) link

oh. that's 'embrace' story. right. ok...

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:41 (nineteen years ago) link

my favourite embrace phase is their desperate travis sound-u-like one.

c'mon. single written by chris martin. of course that is going to do well. the true test is the album. which is pretty bloody bad.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Doomie, don't you like the Libertines? Do the words 'leg to stand on' mean anything to you?

― Dead Man, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:48 (nineteen years ago) link

if the embrace album goes top ten, i will purchase it and apologise to nick.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 09:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Doomie, it's shipped 100,000 already. It's number two in the midweeks. They have never sounded anything like Travis or OCS. wtf are you talking about?

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 10:56 (nineteen years ago) link

shipped not sold.

if that is the case i'll wait a few weeks and pick my copy up at fopp for three quid.

omg wtf this is embrace!

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:20 (nineteen years ago) link

This is just the type of kneejerk scenester badge-owning dead-soldier-coat-wearing BOLLOCKS that I'd expect from you, Doomie.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:27 (nineteen years ago) link

And I appreciate that it's mostly aimed at pissing me off because I'm much more handsome than you, but there you go.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:27 (nineteen years ago) link

huh?

i've seen those teeth man. (shudder)

i just can't understand embrace. its like asking for the appeal in kula shaker or cast and beyond the comedic value i can't find nothing. nada. i gots nothing. truly mystified. i get why the single sold. single charts are weak as fuck and the fan base bought the single in droves plus added radio value being that it was written by chris martin. but the album? that's the test.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:33 (nineteen years ago) link

omg wtf this is embrace! again i am mystified as to why i'm still chatting about them. maybe they have *some* sort of appeal?

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Well that's fair enough. Obviously I don't agree, but we're clearly very different people, so there you go. What aggravates me is your constant snideness and nastiness, and the apparent joy you derive from being snide and nasty about them. What's the fucking point? You don't like them, they don't move you, that's fine, now stop bitching about it. You're not going to change my mind or anybody else's, especially seeing as any argument you put forth is based on entirely erroneous pejorative comparisons. "poor man's ocean colour scene"? They had a top 20 single with a kazzoo solo and a hook composed of a weird burbling sample, wtf are you talking about? The last track on the new album ends like Fennesz, wtf are you talking about? "some sort of appeal"? Evidently much more than The Earlies (who I like but who've sold, what, 7 records?).

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Also I've never even had any fillings, wtf are you slagging my teeth off for you fucking moron?

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:41 (nineteen years ago) link

yr teeth are as brown as yr musical tastes, you ego-manical moron.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:43 (nineteen years ago) link

You're a fucking child, Doomie.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:44 (nineteen years ago) link

ah huh.

o.k. wasted five minutes of my life i'll never get back on this.

c'ya.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Bye then!

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 11:47 (nineteen years ago) link

The first time I admitted on ILM that I liked Embrace I feared I would be banned or mocked forever or something. At least I know Nick has always got my back...

(Still haven't heard the new album though, and will reserve judgement. I thought the last one was crap.)

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 12:52 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 119 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

My housemate at uni loved Mansun.

― I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 20 January 2014 15:02 (ten years ago) link

Can I ask, without wishing to seem rude, how old you were in 2004?

― the Shearer of simulated snowsex etc. (Dwight Yorke), Monday, 20 January 2014 15:23 (ten years ago) link

24/25. I was in relationship hell for the first six months or so of that year, which isn't an excuse but is context.

― I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 20 January 2014 15:40 (ten years ago) link

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