Embrace
Love Is A Basic Need

The Embrace have not lost their passion for long waits.

Four years after the eponymous comeback album of 2014 (a whole eight years had passed since the previous "This New Day"), it's time for yet another new beginning for the McNamara brothers. Recorded at Magnetic North Studios in Halifax (UK, of course) and produced by younger brother Richard (recently behind the buttons and knobs for the successful reunion album of fellow countrymen Starsailor, "All This Life"), this new "Love Is A Basic Need" was already anticipated two years ago by an EP of the same title, featuring the beautiful title track, an epic and airy piece as per the house tradition (a sort of more mature and structured "All You Good Good People"), here placed at the end.

A return to origins is also confirmed in the other tracks that make up the tracklist; practically ignored is the turn towards post-punk, electronic, and intense alt-rock of the previous work, the new work is composed almost entirely of epic ballads shouted to the skies, bringing the band's sonic compass back to the bestseller duo "Out Of Nothing"/"This New Day" that in 2004/2006 revived the group after a period of commercial and critical decline.

Opened by the lead single "The Finish Line," a fully realized Embrace piece (subdued piano accompanying Danny McNamara's warm voice, progressively increasing intensity culminating in an airy chorus sung with pathos, with an accompanying controlled explosion of guitars and strings), "Love Is A Basic Need" will completely satisfy those who did not appreciate the 180-degree turn of the previous album.

In very few moments does the band allow themselves an acceleration, and when they do, it's always with a bit of a handbrake, as in "Where You Sleeping," not coincidentally the only track entrusted to Richard's more abrasive voice.

For the rest, we are faced with intense and tastefully arranged ballads, whether they are more linear and airy tracks, see the excellent "Snake Oil" and "All That Remains," or pieces that play more on the quiet/storm dualism, as in the case of the second single "Wake Up Call," with its beautiful explosion of guitars, horns, and drums that finds perfect completion in a truly remarkable finale. Also noteworthy is the delightful duet with Scottish singer-songwriter Kerri Watt in the pleasant "Never."

A good return for Embrace; sure, the hits of the past ("Gravity" and "Nature's Law" are now a distant memory) are missing, but the compactness and good inspiration shown make "Love Is A Basic Need" yet another decent record licensed by the McNamara family.

Best track: Love Is A Basic Need