Sweet and Tender Hooligans

Right on time, Embrace release a brand new single...

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It's out at last. Embrace are back. And, well, it's not quite what you'd expect.

'Hooligan' is a happy-go-lucky, slightly shambolic little number with more than a touch of Beck thrown into the mix. We won't be waving our cigarette lighters around to it at the concerts but it marks a significant step out into the sunshine after weeks of recording their second album. In the Gloucestershire mansion where they have been holed up this last month, things are clearly going well.

Embrace have come a long way from their home town of Brighouse by the flowing banks of the M62. They were heralded by the NME only two years ago as natural heirs to the likes of Oasis and The Verve, as copies of their Extended Play began to dominate the turntables of the London inkies. The album soon delivered the promise. The Good Will Out threw Embrace into the mainstream and live shows backed it up. For the first time in nearly ten years Yorkshire had a real live phenomenon on its hands - a band who could write songs with heart on the sleeve, and with a sense of scale that such songs deserve. Danny McNamara, the band's frontman, would tell the NME that he wanted the band to be like the Beatles had Brian Wilson joined.

Bands from our neck of the woods seem to have a knack of bottling it on the verge of stardom. From small jewels such as Party Day to bright sparks like Pulp there's always been a contrary reaction to the positive vibes. Just to prove that it's not all about predictability and safety. Just to show that we're not in it for something as trivial as success. The exception proves the rule - When Def Leppard were rehearsing every night of the week above a Bramhall Lane factory their eyes were very firmly on the stars. The band would play to the old dears in places like High Green Liberal Club or Wombwell Reform as if they were in Madison Square Garden.

The expectations carried on the shoulders are understandably huge, because in a year when Noel and Liam caught Limo Fatigue and the mighty Verve imploded, we have a deep need for a strong Embrace. Their songs, deeply romantic and passionate, were the soundtrack to last summer. No trace of the cynicism at the heart of much of the music that's out there, Travis have proved this year that there is room for a bit of emotional honesty and that the second album syndrome is a journalists crutch. Embrace are not about to pull any arty stunts or post-modern ironic think pieces. There is a real sense of honesty at the heart of this bands music, and if we have any hopes for the new millennium it's for Embrace to emerge triumphant. However they want to do it.

The signs are good. On Steve Lamaqu's recent Radio One interview the band were sounding very positive, and promised one song, 'Love It Takes', that they feel has taken them to even greater hights. The good, of course, will come out at the live shows they have planned in January. There are shows in Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol, Oxford and Norwich before it all comes to a head at the Astoria in London on the 28th January. The NME Brats headliner. By then we'll know the title, and we'll hear the songs. Sweet and Tender? We will see.

Ann D

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Def Leppard - Early Doors

Rock Photographer Steve Drury, best known for his Melody Maker work, has re-printed some of his rarest pictures. His were the earliest pictures of Def Leppard and his shots have a candid quality rarely seen in rock photography.

Check out his web pages at - Steve Drury Photography

Northerner___________________________________________