Free Download: Embers – “Hollow Cage” (Live)

Twitter users amongst you will quite probably have noticed something afoot on the social media platform towards the end of last week. There was a buzz that grew and grew, escalating rapidly as tweet after tweet flew around the world, each connected with a single unifying word, Embers. Seemingly out of nowhere, four young men from Manchester set pulses racing as they released a live performance video for new track, “Hollow Cage”.

Augmented by a string section, backing vocalists and stunning acoustics from the magnificent setting of Gorton Monastery, the seven-minute epic caused an excited intake of breath from all who heard it. Blog post after blog post shot up as more as the wave of praise became a tsunami.

As is our way, we chose not to post in haste, preferring to let the track settle with us and so we could live with it and its predecessors a little before making a judgement. Is it really that big of a deal or had the blog world got caught up in the kind of mass hysteria reserved for football fans and dramatic classics?
It’s the former, obviously.

Seven minutes can often feel too long for a track, it can feel dragged out and dull. Not so with “Hollow Cage”, every second is used perfectly and the time flies by, the ending coming too soon. It builds, like a cinematic narrative layers are added and woven in as the song progresses and evolves. Like all good narratives, it happens subtly. Additions appear so gradually, organically, that you are left wondering whence they came and how did you not notice them before?

As noted above, the setting helps immeasurably. The acoustics of the monastery add to the scale of the sound, which seems to expand and contract at will. Vocals and strings escalate, rising up to the top of the vast ceilings and filling every nook and cranny above and crypt and cellar below. There is drama and intensity on a grand scale, emotion so raw it is practically dripping in blood and an honesty in the performance that is genuinely disarming. The band said they put a lot of time and effort into making the video and it not only shows, but it was clearly time and effort extremely well spent.

With all the eulogising on “Hollow Cage” by us and others, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Embers’ only song. Not so, and while their previous efforts are not blessed with the same epic feeling, they offer more than enough to show that this is not a one-off. Pace, drama, passion; Embers have them all in spades. Power too, their is a lot (and we mean a lot!) of power in each of their tracks as they drive forward, relentless. “Tunnel Vision” and “Days Turn Into Weeks” in particular quicken the heart and rouse the spirit.

As people pontificate on, and search for, the new sound that will come to the fore in music, they could do a lot worse than glance an ear or two towards Embers who should really end up playing a major role in its definition.

The band has made the audio of the live recording of “Hollow Cage” available for free download for a while, which you can get below. Meanwhile, you can also watch the stunning performance itself. Prepare to be blown away.

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