Embrace | ||||
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Studio album by Embrace | ||||
Released | 25 April 2014 | |||
Recorded | August 2011 – January 2014 at Magnetic North Studios (Halifax, England) |
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Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 46:22 | |||
Label | Cooking Vinyl | |||
Producer | Richard McNamara | |||
Embrace chronology | ||||
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Singles from Embrace | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 58/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Clash | 8/10 |
Drowned in Sound | 7/10 |
The Guardian | |
The Line of Best Fit | |
Mojo | |
musicOMH | |
Renowned for Sound | |
Uncut | 5/10 |
AllMusic |
Embrace is the eponymously titled sixth studio album by English alternative rock band Embrace. The album, self-produced by Richard McNamara, was released on 25 April 2014 in Friday-release countries and on 28 April 2014 in the United Kingdom by independent record label Cooking Vinyl. The album is the band's first in eight years, after the release of their fifth studio album This New Day in 2006.
It went to number 5 in the UK charts.
Embrace, created with a goal to outdo their debut studio album, the critically acclaimed The Good Will Out, features a return to the band's original form, dropping the post-britpop influenced and commercially accessible sounds of their previous two albums, Out of Nothing and This New Day. Drawn by influences from post-punk bands from the 1970s and 80s, the album is the band's first experimental album, with electronic instruments and sounds and further influences from hard rock music. With the creative process of the album lasting a total of three years of writing and another three years in production, Embrace was recorded at Richard McNamara's self-built Magnetic North Studios in Halifax, England.
The album was lightly promoted by the band and label Cooking Vinyl in the lead-up to its release, with the launch of the album being accompanied by a limited theatrical run of the band's live film Magnetic North. The album's release cycle is reminiscent of the release cycle of The Good Will Out, with full-length extended plays and singles with multiple tracks being released in promotion of the album, a release cycle strategy which would otherwise be an unusual in the digital age of music.