Features Embers

It is a problem that seems to affect all bands coming from Manchester: how to avoid being likened to other acts from the cities rich musical heritage. Well, Manchester’s latest great new band should blast all other comparisons firmly away with their ferociously exciting sound.

Four-piece Embers are a band very much in their infancy and little is known about them yet, but the few tracks that have emerged show a group with a strong sense of purpose, a wealth of ideas and ambition and, most importantly, a great deal of promise.

Embers make loud, expansive and ambitious rock music but there is also an engaging melodic sensibility running through these tracks. ‘Without Fear Or Favour’ has a gloriously uplifting chorus and the track manages to pack in rumbling, crashing drums, soaring strings and what appears to be a choir into its four minutes. At no point does it ever sound overblown though and Embers seem to have a gift to make expansive and ambitious music sound entirely natural. ‘Tunnel Vision’ is a more raucous, rough edged track, and its fervent driving sound is particularly thrilling.

These three songs are also accompanied by some atmospheric videos that really add to the music; it all adds up to a very accomplished package for such a new band. It is very rare that you come across a new act as assured and confident as Embers are, and it certainly bodes well for what is to come in the future. A band to keep your eye on in 2012.