Last year, Oasis and The Verve battled for the Britpop crown with The Verve's 'Urban Hymns' slightly edging the disappointing Oasis album into second place. This year, with The Verve about to split up, again, and Oasis planning their next album, the field was clear for Embrace to move into contention.

The Huddersfield-born McNamara brothers (Danny and Richard) had garnered huge interest with their 'All You Good Good People' one-off single on the Fierce Panda label. They then signed with the Virgin Records subsiduary, Hut Records and this, their auspicious debut album, was the result.

With a sound resembling Oasis produced by Genesis, 'The Good Will Out' contains a string of well-written, emotional ballads augmented by string sections, soaring harmonies and perceptive lyrics. 'All You Good Good People' was re-recorded for the album and sits alongside equally impressive songs like the current singles, 'Come Back To What You Know' and 'My Weakness Is None Of Your Business'.

The middle of the album tends to sag under the unrelenting 'bigness' of each song but there's a strong finish to this CD with the final trio of songs, 'That's All Changed Forever', the gorgeous, Radiohead-inspired 'Now You're Nobody' and the title track.

"The Good Will Out' is an intelligent and well-crafted album that deserves more than a quick listen as it should be jostling for honours in the end-of-year polls.

Stephen "Sugar" Segerman

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