Embrace return with ‘Avalanche’, the Yorkshire band’s ninth studio album. Released via Cooking Vinyl, Danny McNamara says the song is one that looks for joy in the simple moments: ‘Real, deep, honest-to-God joy doesn’t live in the big, dramatic moments we’re all taught to chase. It doesn’t live in huge, unattainable goals or impressive, life-changing achievements. It lives in the small, almost invisible flashes of magic that happen when you slow down and actually live in the moment’.

‘Stop’ opens the album with static feedback, ‘wailing ‘Ashes’-esque guitars and anthemic drums. With hints of Echo and the Bunnymen, Danny declares ‘We’re gonna live forever’ and provides a mantra we can all live by: ‘Stop what you’re doing, stop what you’re saying. You’re breaking my heart’. ‘Road to Nowhere’ is equally melodic but also with an air of sadness: ‘You said you’re too scared to leave me but it hurts too much to stay’. ‘Get Out of My Own Way’ is a quieter ballad filled with love and romantic bombast: ‘I know you’re out of my league. Todays’ the day I change’.

‘Coming Home’ has an almost orchestral start with group vocals backing Danny and a sole guitar line, before piano is added as Danny considers ‘The darkness coming in’. ‘Up in Your Feelings’ is altogether grittier with gothic synths and a killer bass line, while there’s also an assertive edge to the lyrics: ‘I use your memory like a weapon of war’. ‘Pure O’ is more pulsating with distorted hooks and a punk aesthetic that capture the confusion of life: ‘I’m at rock bottom. Do you come here often? You’ll find me here all the time’.

‘Deny’ brings back memories of ‘The Good Will Out’ as Danny grieves ‘for a future that I know will never hold’ and devastatingly looks back on failed relationships: ‘You will always be the one that got away’. ‘Funny’ has a touch of ‘Until End of the World’-era U2 as Danny menacingly declares ‘Funny you address me as your highness. I am Yorkshire’s finest’ before then lamenting how ‘You’re so good at going away’. The closing ‘The Power’ is an emotive piece that touches on fragility and mortality: ‘What a life, what a ride, what a time I’ve had with you’.

‘Avalanche’ is a record that finds Embrace pouring out every emotion with perfect pride.