Gone are the days when Embrace could be dismissed as mere Oasis copycats. These days the Yorkshire band have made a brave stylistic shift, and find themselves more accurately described as Coldplay copyists instead. In fairness, they do what Coldplay do at least as well as Coldplay themselves. This sixth album, their first in eight years, is packed with sky-scraping choruses tailor made for punching the air mildly to at festivals, ideally as the sun sets. It's anthemic guitar pop with some gentle electronic garnish, and almost all of the songs here could soundtrack an Ashes highlights package or that moment when a reality TV star winner gets to see their "best bits" reel. Immediately accessible and vaguely uplifting, music of this kind undeniably serves a purpose, even if there's already quite a successful band out there serving said purpose already.
Embrace: Embrace review – vaguely uplifting, anthemic guitar pop
Yorkshire rockers Embrace have changed beyond recognition: they're copying Coldplay instead of Oasis now, writes Tim Jonze