Embrace, Live at the Piece Hall, Idlewild, and The Hazy Janes

The group’s initial stages started to take form at the dawn of the 90s in Bailiff Bridge, Brighouse, England. The early formation of Embrace consisted of brothers Danny and Richard McNamara (lead vocalist and guitarist respectively) as well as a tentative bassist. The trio started to write and record material, usually with the assistance of a drum machine.

However this would soon change with the addition of drummer Mike Heaton. By this point the group were regularly composing and laying down tracks, acquiring enough material to land several gigs around town. During this time the group did not have a stable name so they ended up going through an assortment of titles such as Christianne F, Shimmer, Merchandise, Curious Orange etc...

The group eventually settled on Embrace. They recognized that there was already an American hardcore punk band with this name so before assuming the title they contacted frontman Ian MacKaye for permission. MacKaye warned the group that it might cause confusion, but overall was accepting of the proposition.

Embrace gradually stepped up the quality of their recordings transitioning from a cassette recorder to a 16 track recoding studio. Though their sound became more refined their early material was still lo-fi and was released exclusively on cassette tapes.

The group started to pick up popularity around Leeds, with one of their tapes managing to make it into a local fanzine. The group even caught the eye of the renowned publication Melody Maker; however, they did not receive positive reviews. This particular write up caused the band to re-evaluate their sound and in a sense instigated them to build a more rich and complex style.

In 1995 Embrace welcomed it’s newest member, bassist Steve Firth and in 1997 they issued their single “All You Good Good People” through Fierce Panda Records. 1997 also saw the release of the two EPs “Fireworks” and “One Big Family”. A Year later they issued their debut album “The Good Will Out”, which leapt to No.1 on the UK Albums chart. Their two follow up albums 2000’s “Drawn from Memory” and 2001s “If You’ve Never Been” also faired well on the charts both making it into the top 10. The group also embarked on several critically acclaimed tours. The tour for their debut album found them playing alongside Coldplay.

In 2002 Embrace was dropped by Hut Records and signed to Independiente Records. Their 4th studio album “Out of Nothing” was released in 2004 and reached No. 1 on the UK Charts. It featured four singles, including the hit “Gravity”, which was co-written by Coldplay’s Chris Martin. The compilation album “Dry Kids: B-Sides 1997-2005” followed and in 2006 Embrace released their 5th studio album “This New Day”, which proved to be their 3rd album to top the UK charts.

The band went on a three year hiatus starting in 2007; however in 2011 they announced that they were working on a new studio album. They signed with the label Cooking Vinyl in 2013, but did not release their 6th feature length album until 25 April 2014.

Lead singer Roddy Woomble met drummer Colin Newton and guitarist Rod Jones at a party in 1995, and before long found shared musical interests and decided to start a band. Bassist Phil Scanlon was enlisted to play bass and Idlewild played their debut show at the Subway Club in Edinburgh, and subsequently, with over twenty songs under their belt, a host of other gigs around the country.

After the release of the band’s debut single “Queen of the Troubled Teens” in 1997, which earned considerable UK exposure thanks to BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, led to the label Fierce Panda releasing Idlewild’s second single “Chandelier”. The single marked the departure of bassist Scanlon who was replaced by Bob Fairfoull, and the group became notorious for the punk-like chaos of their live shows, later signing with Food Records in 1998.

The label issued Idlewild’s debut album “Hope Is Important” towards the tail-end of 1998, which was succeeded by “100 Broken Windows” in 2001. Idlewild’s third full-length album “The Remote Part” proved to be their most popular and well-received, aided by the singles “American English” and “You Held the World in Your Arms”, although tensions within the band were rising. Bassist Fairfoull got the boot after a show in Amsterdam and the following year bassist Gavin Fox and guitarist Allen Stewart made tenure ahead of the American release of “The Remote Part”.

After a four-month touring hiatus in the Scottish Highlands writing songs, Idlewild issued “Warnings/Promises” in 2005. The curse of the bassist rang true again and Fox left the group after the release, making way for Gareth Russell, formerly of the band Astrid. Russel’s debut came with “Make Another World” released in 2007, after which lead singer Woomble made his solo debut with “My Secret Is My Silence” also in 2007. Sticking in to the man, Idlewild’s sixth studio album “Post Electric Blues” was given away free to fans in 2009 and represented a more melodic rock sound than their earliest releases.