I know it is no longer pantomime season but Embark’s “Inside Andromeda” EP had me shouting “Look out, there’s a concept album behind you!” as Embark – a French musician called David it would seem – goes off to a provincial town in search of the end of the world.
It will therefore be no surprise to you to learn that these five songs are not in the least fluffy and are instead possessed of a brooding intensity. There is a bit of Coldplay style posturing to be found in the opening song “It’s Time To Go” but that soon gets replaced with a more thoughtful Euro rock take on ambient electronica textures thus making “By The Sea” and “Everyone but You” something more akin to musical paintings than conventional songs.
Those portents of doom – we are in concept territory after all – continue with the relentless chanting of “La Terre Tombe En Morceaux” driving the song along with an almost religious sense of purpose before “Sunrise With Sea Monsters” runs us out of this EP like a soundtrack cue on the lam from a Luc Besson film.
Interestingly dark, as they might say. “Inside Andromeda” is available from Bandcamp.