"Drummer Mike Heaton, in an interview with the Burton Mail, described the album as "not as different as we thought it might be, although the influences go back to a very much darker time for music".

[3] The album was recorded at Magnetic North Studios, built by guitarist and producer Richard McNamara.

Richard McNamara wrote on the band's Facebook page on 12 August 2011 announcing their return to the studio, seven years after the release of This New Day, stating "We've gone from barely seeing or speaking to each other, dodging rumours about a band split, to living out of each others pockets and I just know somewhere in my bones that they've got my back both musically and spiritually...".

[7] The album art for Embrace features the number five in stroke counting form, painted in white over a black background.

He wrote: "Self-produced and melding electronic elements to their more conventional methods, this is a record by a band that has fallen in love with making music again".

[21] Marc Burrows of UK-based music webzine Drowned in Sound also wrote positively of the album.

He gave a bitterly positive comment on the album's sound, comparing individual tracks and the album as a whole to various acts of the 70s and 80s, stating that "Somewhere in the last few years the Yorkshire five piece have reinvented themselves, they’ve been listening to Depeche Mode, the best bits of U2 and a shit-load of New Order and Joy Division, and yes they’re pretty much ripping those sounds off, but ya know what?

He also stated that "It’s a hell of a rug-pull from a band long written-off, and a reminder to some of us that everything should be approached with an open mind".

He further noted that "Despite the curveballs and their extended break from the biz, the band’s phasers remain set to festival-primed, punch-the-air anthemic bravado, a formula as solid today as it was in their early feted period".

They’ve released a record which feels like they enjoyed creating, and the time and effort comes through in their mix of nostalgia and the current".

Longstanding fans will either love or loathe the more prominently electronic direction, but it’s clear that Embrace have succeeded in keeping up with the times while continuing to sound like the same band".

[17] Uncut Magazine also gave the album a mixed review, commenting: "Gone, for the most part, are the aching ballads in favour of identikit stadium rock epics somewhere between Simple Minds and Coldplay, overlain with '90s dance beats".

[19] Tim Jonze of Manchester-based national newspaper The Guardian, however, gave the album a negative review.

Describing the album as "vaguely uplifting, anthemic guitar pop", he states that "Almost all of the songs here could soundtrack an Ashes highlights package or that moment when a reality TV star winner gets to see their "best bits" reel".

[14] Mojo also additionally wrote negatively of the album, commenting: "Embrace is [a] schizophrenic stab at modernity, [from] bolting synths and clattering drum patterns to forgettable harmonies, with limp results".

The single, featuring acoustic versions of "Follow You Home" and "Refugees", is scheduled for release by Independent record label Cooking Vinyl on 28 April 2014.