The Art of Longevity Season 5, Episode 5: Embrace, with Danny McNamara

The Art of Longevity Season 5, Episode 5: Embrace, with Danny McNamara

Author: The Song Sommelier September 25, 2022 Duration: 54:20
Before I spoke with Danny McNamara, he’d emailed me to say how much he loved Brett Anderson’s quote - the one we’ve set out to make famous on The Art of Longevity. Not only did he recognise it as capturing the band’s career but Embrace have been through the cycle at least twice - the struggle (1990-’96), stratospheric rise (their debut The Good Will Out), the crash to the bottom (that first time dropped by their label) and enlightenment (Out Of Nothing). And then all over again. Consider - th...

The Art of Longevity, hosted by The Song Sommelier, sits at the crossroads of music, history, and the often-unseen business behind it. This isn't a typical interview podcast; it's a series of candid, in-depth dialogues with artists who have built careers spanning decades. Each conversation explores the real journey-how these musicians have weathered the industry's constant shifts, creative droughts, and commercial pressures to not just survive, but to continue evolving and connecting with audiences. We get into the specifics: the collaboration that saved a career, the business decision that changed everything, the fanbase that grew quietly over years. The discussions move fluidly between past triumphs, current projects, and future ambitions, always grounded in the artist's personal definition of success. It's about the resilience required to make art for a lifetime. Tune in for these uniquely honest reflections on what it truly means to last.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 93

The Art of Longevity
Podcast Episodes
The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 3: Turin Brakes - revisited [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:48
In the intervening four years since Olly Knights first joined me, the band has been on something of a creative roll; two fine albums, a successful acoustic tour and something of a collective raising of the game. To my mi…
The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 2: Estelle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:40
Estelle is old school. With a modern twist yes, but nonetheless, if this most eclectic of artists leans in any particular direction it is towards ‘classic’. She even says it in one her own songs; "I'm not of-the-moment.…
The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 1: Morcheeba [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:08
During our live interview with Skye Edwards and Ross Godfrey of Morcheeba, I found myself at one stage scrolling through my notes to find a description of the band’s sound I’d queried using Chat GPT. I couldn’t find it a…
The Art of Longevity Season 11, Episode 7: Matt Berninger [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:07
Light, fire, water, fruit, and worms; “just the basics”, are Matt Berninger’s recurring themes, and these emerge again on his second solo album Get Sunk. One of life’s sponges, Berninger is constantly observing and recor…
The Art of Longevity Season 11, Episode 6: Valerie June [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:05
Valerie June’s journey to what we might call ‘cult stardom’ hasn’t been easy. “I was cleaning houses while playing bars & clubs at night. And I had a vision that I would not make it - my music wouldn't reach its audience…
The Art of Longevity Season 11, Episode 3: Tindersticks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:34
Great bands and great records shouldn't come down to a competition, but by way of bringing it to your attention, Tindersticks’ Soft Tissue was my choice of 5th best album of 2024. I’m touched that Stuart Staples seems ge…
The Art of Longevity Season 11, Episode 2: Doves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:04
Doves have yet to have a big 'moment', but in the music business of 2025, those moments no longer even exist. Instead, bands of ‘modest success’ must crack on, do their best work, put it out in the world and hope people…
Season 11, Episode 1: The Lumineers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:06
If the route to longevity is to be bendable into the music industry’s rules for success, The Lumineers really shouldn’t be here at all. It makes no sense. Their stripped back, rootsy ‘Americana’ (if that’s what we can ca…