Embrace

Technically speaking, Embrace is the egg to Coldplay's chicken, yet given the frenzy over Chris Martin and the Three Other Guys, it wouldn't be surprising if people also started calling U2, Pink Floyd, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "the next Coldplay." Not the short-lived '80s emo outfit fronted by Ian MacKaye, this British combo -- led by brothers Danny and Richard McNamara -- was tagged as heir to Oasis and the Verve upon the release of its 1998 debut, The Good Will Out. For a while the band lived up to the task in the U.K., although U.S. airwaves were too clogged with n¨-metal testosterone at the time to really support the anthemic, cerebral sweep of singles like "All You Good Good People." But the current Coldplay-governed climate has afforded Embrace a new lease on life, and rather than resent the association, they've actually, er, embraced it: "Gravity," the lead single from their new album, Out of Nothing, was written by Chris Martin, a friend of the band since Coldplay opened for them back in 2000. Anyway, we can cluck all day about who came first -- in the end, all that matters is whether the music will move you, and Embrace can make you swoon like the best of 'em.