New albums by Embrace and Yes have been reviewed by the Daily Star's music guru, who praises both bands for their latest offerings. Embrace's 'Avalanche' is described as a collection of stately indie anthems, while Yes's 'Aurora' showcases prog rock wizardry.
Embrace: Avalanche
With more lives than a black cat, indie favorites Embrace laugh in the face of adversity and always manage to come back with a song to prove the naysayers wrong. New album 'Avalanche' is packed with many of those moments, including chiming toxic relationship anthem 'Road To Nowhere', where singer Danny McNamara explores the aftermath of a broken relationship with that signature shy delivery as though they were just half-thoughts.
Embrace come from the Oasis and Verve school of musicianship, and although that's very much back in vogue, they've purposefully developed a heavier edge with guitars and synths on 'Up In Your Feelings' while 'Funny' is pleasingly distorted. These are sky-scraping anthems that rarely break sweat but certainly manage to pull on the ol' heartstrings. Nothing's gonna stop this avalanche.
Daily Star Rating: ****
Yes: Aurora
With more eras than Taylor Swift, Yes have meant many different things to disparate fans over the decades, but incredibly they've settled on the same line-up for the past three releases. Their latest, 'Aurora', benefits from that stability, forging a sound that offers enough of the sci-fi prog nostalgia, but with a fresh ethereal twist. That comes from the typically virtuoso performances and vocalist Jon Davison who, while maintaining an echo of Jon Anderson, finds a brooding new tone for 'All Hands On Deck'.
Veteran fans will enjoy unearthing the many Easter eggs dotted throughout, including the title track - a sort of companion piece to 1973's 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' - while 'Countermovement' is a sprawling classic Yes behemoth. It's a roaring 'yes' to this version of the band.
Daily Star Rating: ****
