Monday, September 13, 2004
Into Everything / Proof Of Purchase
Back in April it was “release a single in the summer, see how it does, if it does well follow it straight away, if not pump another one out. In that case the album might no surface till next year.” Even in June when the single was announced officially it didn’t actually feel as though it was going to ever happen. September 13th was too far away to even comprehend. Because I’d totally given up. And then I heard the tracklisting, and at least two of the best tracks I’d been played back in April weren’t on it, and one of the weaker ones was, plus this thing called “Gravity” which they’d only just done. And J didn’t tell me it was by Chris Martin in case I blew a gasket or something. And then the struggle when I did find out to come to terms (which was easy enough) and then the struggle when I heard it to come to terms (which wasn’t). And now it’s actually “Embrace Day” (thanks to Emma for naming this day via text – I’ll have to look into getting it announced officially, written on calendars and shit, made a public holiday), and I’ve bought two copies from Tesco (Album of the Week, £8.97), and will buy a couple more at lunchtime (one for Todd, one for Nicole, one for Andy, one for Matt & Kate – I’d best buy another one for me).
The cover stands out well, red on white, bright and clear. It looks good on Tesco shelves, and Woolies too (didn’t see HMV or Virgin – neither open till 9am). I like the fact that the album title isn’t on the cover – it removes any necessity for an eponymous album in the future. What is an eponymous album? As a debut it’s a statement of intent – “we are here; love us”. As a mid-career album it either represents a change of direction or an encapsulation of aesthetic; either way it gets used when a band seizes control of its identity and seeks to express it in the strongest terms possible. Out Of Nothing isn’t an eponymous album, but it also is. The cover just says “Embrace” and just features the band, um, embracing. Cheesy, but necessary. Album of the Week in Tesco. It’s kind of daft, but stuff like that matters.
NJS
9/13/2004 10:23:00 am
|
|
5 Comments:
I'm so glad there are other people out there who are as excited about the new Embrace album as I am.
Just got it in HMV. They were playing 'Someday' while I was in there. There's something special about buying an album while they're playing it in the shop, especially on the day of the release.
I just came into my office, excitedly clutching my album, beaming.
'What it it?' said a colleague.
'Embrace.'
'Aren't they dead?'
Another colleague said, 'Yeah, they had a couple of hits back in 1998 or something.'
There are still so many people to educate.
Not that many - it's just gone gold. 100,000 shifted already.
like we need another Coldplay
Like that's what they are.
Orkle!
Post a Comment
<< Home