Rock: 'We still don't know what we're doing!'

The Bradford band, newly expanded to a five-piece, threw everything bar the musical equivalent of the kitchen sink at their debut album.

They brought in a full orchestra to give songs like All You Good Good People an epic feel. But even though they deliberately aimed for a more stripped-down sound for the follow-up, they still couldn't resist hiring the services of more classical musicians.

"Instead of 30 fat blokes in brown trousers there were six really gorgeous women doing strings," said singer Danny McNamara.

Drawn From Memory, released next week, is tipped to do for Embrace what The Man Who did for Travis last year.

But Danny says the band didn't consciously go for a more commercial sound on the new album.

"It just evolves. You start out knowing what you don't want to do," he said.

"The ideas for songs just kind of come out. There's no real conscious effort at all. You just kind of do it. You're in a studio and someone brings an idea. I don't think we're self-conscious about it at all.

"We knew we didn't want to get loads of extra players in again like we did last time. We wanted to do it all ourselves.

"I don't feel as if we know what we're doing yet. We're kind of learning. Every day is completely different.

"We tried to make it sound like our first album. The Boo Radleys were always cool because each album sounded like a brand new album. They never got cynical over four or five albums and that's what we're trying to do with each new album.

"It's not as self-conscious as before. It's a bit deeper."

The current Embrace single You're Not Alone is a familiar blast of soulful pop but Hooligan, the first release from the new album, caught critics on the hop.

A loping track reminiscent of Beck featuring kazoo and lead vocals by Danny's brother Richard, it was not what most music writers were expecting.

"We got an equal amount of criticism and respect for it," said Danny.

"There's a taste police that says what you can and can't do. We've never really paid any attention to them.

"We didn't think it was that different. It's like when you've got a six-year-old and their aunt says 'Haven't you grown?' and they don't understand but that's because they see themselves every day whereas the aunt doesn't.

"Richard did the vocals on One Big Family as well and no-one made a fuss about that."

Embrace's new line-up now features Mick Dale, formerly of Bradford bands Poppy Factory and Kitsch, on keyboards.

"He's always been a member but he wasn't officially a member because he was still in another band," said Danny.

Danny is the only member of the band to have moved away from his native Yorkshire, but he says that does not mean he lost touch with his roots.

"When I'm up north I just usually go to the local club. I've never been one for that kind of thing. I'm not a townie. I don't go round town. I've never been part of the town scene," he said.

"In this business what people think you are is more important than what you are."

And in these Internet-dominated days, Danny likes the way he can communicate directly with fans.

"I go on our website and you can write down exactly what going on with the band without it being translated. It's purer and more direct. It's also immediate. You don't to wait for it to be published," he said.

"Every now and again I just go on the message board. People send mail and it's a chance for me to answer them."

The onus appears to be on Embrace to build on the success of their debut album The Good Will Out. But Danny says he does not feel any undue pressure.

"We're just happy if our album makes enough money for us to be able to carry on without compromising us commercially," he said.

"We don't want that pressure to release it earlier or write a hit. Fortunately the first album did so well."

Embrace have already established footholds in Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Australia and want to continue to expand their fan base across the globe - although they haven't got the United States in their sights just yet.

"We haven't even been there. We don't know what's going to happen there. It's such a big country. If you don't get your video on MTV it's really difficult," said Danny.

Drawn From Memory is released on the Hut record label and will be in the shops on Monday.

Simon Ashberry

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