Band Embracing a new lease of life with live dates and album planned

The band – originally formed in West Yorkshire in 1990 – shot to fame in 1998 when debut album The Good Will Out topped the charts, spawning top-10 singles such as Come Back to What You Know and My Weakness is None of Your Business.

Four more albums followed, including two more chart-toppers in 2004’s Out of Nothing and 2006’s This New Day, before it all stopped.

The band members themselves were disappointed with the sound and quality of This New Day and took a break from Embrace.

And the hiatus was longer than anyone expected – it took five years to even begin recording their sixth long-player and a further three before it was released, although the eponymous Embrace was another hit, reaching number five.

Keyboard player Mickey Dale says: “The break did us the world of good.

“We were just not really doing anything, just catching up at birthdays and Christmas.

“We kept saying we’d do something before we finally cracked on with it.”

Now they are more mature and the band is enjoying a new lease of life.

Album number seven is well under way – and planned for a release next year – while the band have few live dates before Christmas, including a show at The Foundry in Sheffield on Wednesday, December 14.

Frontman Danny McNamara says: “We’d been so busy working on our new album, then playing The Secret Festival in September made us hungry to get out there and play live again.

“We’re just playing a few selective shows, a kind of Christmas surprise for the people who love the band.

“And if people want to come dressed up and make the gigs a great big party, then please do so.”