The UK song was released on March 11th, with its UK first play on BBC Radio 2 and the video reveal soon after. James Newman, who had been internally selected to represent the UK last year, was reselected after the cancellation of Eurovision 2020. The song, like last year, was also internally selected and is called "Embers"
The music video follows James driving a retro red car through the twisty countryside. Then it cuts to an night-time scenario which is where more of the action takes place. James is dressed in a dark top and trousers and a rather large coat, however he still moves about a fair bit and seems to be enjoying himself. He is singing the song (along with brass section and dancers) in an industrial setting almost like a lockdown drive-in disco situation. The end minute is filed with lots of smoke, fireworks, reddish lights and lots of overhead drone shots.
The song starts with a very, very brief trumpet intro - which I think they could get rid of and start straight in with the first verse. The end of the pre chorus ends with another trumpet flourish which provides a high point so the chorus can grow again. The main part of the chorus is great, especially with the choir repeating the lines afterwards. However the middle section of the chorus feels a it too subdued and needs beefing up or totally dropping out in the backing track to make it a feature rather than an odd bit. The brass bits between the verses and choruses are really uplifting and provide a great earworm! After another verse and chorus round we have a short bridge which is actually just an abridged chorus in James' lower tone with little music in the background which is then followed by a final burst of the trumpet earworm to finish.
James, and younger brother John, have well celebrated music careers as singers, producers and songwriters. James co-wrote Rudimental and Ella Eyre's UK number 1 "Waiting All Night" and won a Brit Award for co-writing "Waiting All Night". He has also written tracks for Calvin Harris and Toni Braxton and provided vocals for tracks by Armin van Buuren and DJ Matoma .After the cancellation of Eurovision 2020, he released his debut EP which included "My Last Breath".
This is a really good contrast to his 2020 song and you can see that he has learn from his experience and tried something a little different this time round. It certainly stands out as a modern contemporary song rather than the more retro bangers we already have in place. The song also has a happy dance feel to it which is also great on balance. The song itself is not that complicated so I would hope James could belt this out. I would also hope he has some sort of dancing brass section as I think this would give it another visual quality to it. If anything, I would say my main concern about this song is if it is actually going to get votes. This is the type of song that is not going to be right at the top of people's rankings but low enough down that they just don't quite vote for it and I fear that it' lack of a 'call to arms' might let it down. Whatever the result this has a good chance of being a radio hit in the summer.
ARTIST - James Newman
SONG - Embers
WRITING CREDITS - Conor Blake, Samuel Brennan, Tom Hollings, James Newman, Danny Shah
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