If You've Never Been

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

Create your own review

'It's all a lie that everyone has their day,' sings Danny McNamara on 'Wonder', the first single from this fabulous album. Well, perhaps - but it's time Embrace had theirs. 'IYNB' is a far more even album than the previous two. It's mellow, laid-back and smiling: a perfect CD to listen to late at night, driving home beneath a clear, starry sky.

Embrace are well-known for their epics, and they open and close the album with two of their best yet: 'Over' has a beautiful melody and floats along like a butterfly that's had too much nectar; 'Satellites' features Danny's best vocals yet, and the last minute of the song is indescribably lovely.

In between are eight wonderful pop songs. 'Make it Last' and 'It's Gonna Take Time' both sound like future hits; 'I Hope You're Happy Now' sounds a bit like The Littlest Hobo - but in a good way! There are no rock songs like 'One Big Family' or 'New Adam New Eve' which will disappoint some. But as a mood album, IYNB is consistently brilliant. If you like Travis and Coldplay you'll love this.

Embrace's third L.P is a record of rare beauty. A cohesive, heartfelt and moving collection of songs that stir the soul and sooth the mind. The band sound assured and comfortable, in full creative flow, and Danny's voice is the best it has ever sounded.

The songs range from the epic bookends of 'Over' and 'Satellites' to the intimate 'Happiness will get you in the end' and 'Many will learn' and one of the first things you notice is how strong these songs really are.

This is Embrace's best effort yet, the sound of a group pursueing a collective vision and reaching it.

Quite possibly album of the year.

Sometimes it's not the sheen of perfection which we find truly rewarding. Often, rather the faults and flaws which contribute to something's overall beauty hold the key to our enticement; the insecurities, the idiosyncrasies, the little habits and follies which make us what we are, that give us the capacity to yield and receive love. With this in mind it's fitting that Embrace, a band who've often been misrepresented as an exercise in Oasis-lite bluster yet promise so much more, have made a record befitting this description - a collection of moods and feelings, beautifully human yet humanly flawed - rather than a breast-beating attempt at stodgy perfection. They've made an album, not a statement. That the LP opens with "Over", the grandest statement of intent you're ever likely to hear, is curiously fitting in many ways. It's not so much a nod to the rest of the record as closing the book on the opulent anthems of their past, picking up with the ethereal the final word in towering sadness, as the song unfurls from its acoustic cocoon into a multi-part symphony of heartbreak, enriched with a swell of harp strings and strangulated guitar by way of a sumptuous middle-eight carried aloft a weave of vocal harmonies and blissful organ. As a collection of songs "If You've Never Been" is immeasurably more fluid and refined than previous work. Extrapolated from the mellow acoustic timbre of their last LP as opposed to its more raucous moments, Embrace's third outing is the sound of a band who's only pressure manifests in their desire to make music to warm the soul, their only vice that next twist of melody. "If You've Never Been In Love With Anything" thus stands as their finest pop moment to date, a bevy of musical ideas from the stomp-brass Sly Stone intro to joyous West Coast harmonies and the finest Brian Wilson moment he never set to wax. Simon and Garfunkle are lovingly invoked on "I Hope You're Happy Now", whereas elsewhere the brothers' passion for The Flaming Lips shines through in the paired-down "Many Will Learn". However it's in the more heartstrings-by-numbers moments we find the ties are weakest. "Make It Last" is a pretty melody let down by its utter predictability and "Hey, What You're Trying To Say" every inch as clunky alt-country its title suggests. A recurring theme for "If You've Never Been" might be defined as a sense of lessons learnt. This is as much evident in production as in the songs themselves with a "less is more" approach to arrangement helping to retain an oceanic sense of space, one that lesser bands might clutter with instrumental flotsam. Again this is reflecting in the more focused lyrical content of the record, Danny seemingly overpowering his demons in its final approach, eventually exorcising them with a rolling piano lullaby and the notion that "Happiness Will Get You In The End". "Satellites" closes the album in a positive light, with the promise of redemption in the air and as perfect an encapsulation of being in love you're ever likely to hear. It's perhaps lyrically and musically their finest moment to date; shimmering like the north star and as perfectly formed, a jewel in the crown fit to grace any of your favourite records. And in this lies the crux of the matter. The subtleties may be lost on some, others may not be prepared to give "If You've Never Been" the space it needs to breathe and settle - gone altogether is the full-on aural assault of their first record, this is an album that needs to permeate your consciousness in order for its value to be truly appreciated. And it's an astonishing achievement. What's most apparent, however, is that at last this band are beginning to grow the clarity of vision they need to deliver the songs they always promised, in the way we always wanted them.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

3.0 out of 5 stars Fireworks No, But Sparklers Maybe
I don't know what album I bought but it obviously wasn't the same as everyone else. For me 'If You've Never Been' is by far the lesser of Embrace's albums. Read more

Published on 3 Sep 2002 by Justin Hay

4.0 out of 5 stars Northern soul
Danny McNamara ...can still shoehorn more emotional force into the opening seven and a half minutes of the cd then most bands can fit into five albums. He's also a clever man. Read more

Published on 25 Jun 2002 by Pete Goodson

5.0 out of 5 stars A British band getting better and better
This is Embrace's third Album, and it's their best yet. They've roped in Ken Nelson (Coldplay's Producer) to help make this masterpiece with them. Read more

Published on 18 Jan 2002 by Desmond1979

5.0 out of 5 stars At last!
Embrace have produced some glorious songs, so it is a shame that they are remembered by people unfamiliar with their work for the anthemic Come Back To What You Know, rather than... Read more

Published on 21 Nov 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Embrace's best album yet
Having loved, in places, 'The Good Will Out', and then been very dissapointed with 'Drawn from memory', I wasn't sure whether to invest in this album, but I'm glad I did. Read more

Published on 28 Oct 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars Truely awfull mix of eagles and beach boys style dross
They released two good songs from this album, and that's what you get when you buy it. 8 fillers out of 10 has got to be some sort of record. Read more

Published on 25 Oct 2001 by (Roger) sdlrc@netscapeonline.co.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars Initially disappointing, ultimately spellbinding
A real turn up for the books, Embrace have created whats known in the industry as a "grower". Read more

Published on 18 Oct 2001 by kgormley@pixelogic.co.uk

3.0 out of 5 stars Another average to good album
'The Good Will Out' was almost a classic album, but suffers from over-ambition and over-production: string sections appear to intrude in some of the tracks rather than fill a... Read more

Published on 23 Sep 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice and relaxing
The latest embrace album sees a more laid back approach to the catchy chorus sing alongs. The formula is still there for sure, but the anger is missing. Read more

Published on 16 Sep 2001 by R. A. Stewart

5.0 out of 5 stars a masterpiece put together by magicians
The brother duo always come up trumps and any embrace fan will surely agree that this is there best ever working! Truly amazing use of instruments.

Published on 13 Sep 2001

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Search Listmania!