Drawn from Memory

Embrace's pairing of Verve-style ballads and Oasis-like raucous guitars was the order of the day on their debut album, The Good Will Out. The LP was marred, however, by overindulgence in orchestration. Drawn From Memory attempts to strike a balance by not taking everything to an excessive degree, and indeed they do seem to have more control over the music. The rockier moments of Drawn From Memory are really quite good, adding a welcome touch of diversity to the recording. As with the debut, however, these play second fiddle to the ballads. The Good Will Out showed Danny McNamara's ability to write personal songs that could explode into anthemic choruses, without ruining the feeling of the track. That same talent is present on here, although a little more restraint is shown. "I Wouldn't Wanna Happen to You," "You're Not Alone," and the title track are all highlights in this field. Despite the many creditable aspects of the album, there's a lingering feeling that this isn't all it could be. In holding back on the orchestration, the result is perhaps not as powerful as its predecessor. Nonetheless, Drawn From Memory is a satisfying album and a worthy successor to one of the finest debuts of the decade. ~ Ben Davies