''Refugees'' is the seventh
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. by English band
Embrace. Released on 14 February 2014 by independent record label
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman ...
, the EP was the first commercial release by the band in over seven years, the last being the "
I Can't Come Down
"I Can't Come Down" is a song by English rock band Embrace and the fourth and final single from their number-one selling album, ''This New Day''. It was released on 4 December 2006 as the follow-up to "Target". The B-sides included various versio ...
", released in December 2006.
Background
Said lead singer Danny McNamara on 13 January 2014, the day of Refugees' first radio airplay, "
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
brought this in as a near finished recording. It was one of the first songs we finished and it really set the bar for the rest of the album...To say we have argued over this song would be an understatement. I guess you know you've got a good one when that happens because everyone gets really precious about it. But it was really important to us that all the other tracks are strong too. We wanted to go back to how we were at the beginning when we released EPs and every track was as good as the lead track. It feels just like those days, we're all fired up and hungry for it because we've got it all to prove again."
Promotion
In the weeks leading up to the release of ''Refugees'', the opening track, "
Refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. ", was released early on the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on 14 January 2014.
Commercial performance
''Refugees'' climbed to #2 on the UK
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
album chart after its release on 17 February. Despite its commercial success in the United Kingdom, however, it was not eligible to chart in the UK due to the absence of a chart for
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. s under the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
in the UK.
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted from ''Refugees'' liner notes.
;Embrace
*
Mickey Dale
Michael William Dale (born 22 March 1968 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire) is the keyboardist for the English rock indie band, Embrace. He grew up in the Heaton area of Bradford, West Yorkshire.
He officially joined the band in October 1 ...
–
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, string arrangements, backing vocals
*
Steve Firth
Steven Mark Firth (born 1 February 1965 in Halifax, England) is the bass guitarist for the English band Embrace.
He studied art at Liverpool University, and also completed a psychology degree.
Firth admitted that he only found out about Embr ...
– bass
*
Mike Heaton
Embrace are an English rock band formed in Bailiff Bridge, West Yorkshire, England, in 1990. The band consists of brothers singer Danny McNamara and guitarist Richard McNamara, bassist Steve Firth, keyboardist Mickey Dale, and drummer Mike Heat ...
– drum kit, percussion, backing vocals
*Danny McNamara – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
*
Richard McNamara
Richard McNamara (born 23 October 1972 in Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and producer, best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the English band Embrace. He and his older b ...
– vocals, guitars, keyboard, percussion, production
;Additional personnel
*Nick Watson - mixing
*Nathan McGrory - artwork
*Glenn Hustler - "White noise illustration"
Release history
References
{{Embrace
2014 EPs
Cooking Vinyl EPs