James Newman turns up the heat with 'Embers'

Embers received its first spin on BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce Show earlier this morning.

Sharing his excitement, James said:

“I wanted to write an upbeat and positive song that people could have a party to. It’s about the spark between people who love each other. Just because you don’t see the people you care about all the time, doesn’t mean that spark isn’t there.

Togetherness has been the main word in my mind whilst we were writing these songs. Lyrically I kept them as memorable as possible, especially the choruses. It has to be a song that everyone can sing along to, hopefully when I win!”

James Newman has co-written Embers with some of the UK’s most sought after writers and producers who between them have amassed over 4 billion streams.

The writing team includes: Grammy-nominated songsmith Conor Blake; multi platinum singer-songwriter Danny Shah; and writers Tom Hollings and Samuel Brennan who have seen their songs surpass over 250 million streams in the last 18 months.

The track’s brass section is provided by Swedish arrangers Mattias Bylund and Magnus Johansson, known for their work with Max Martin and The Weeknd.

As one of the Big 5 countries, the United Kingdom automatically qualifies for the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest which will take place on Saturday 22 May 2021.

About James Newman

James Newman is a multi-platinum selling, Brit Award-winning and Grammy-nominated songwriter. The artist won a Brit for co-writing the British Single of the Year Waiting All Night, performed by Rudimental and Ella Eyre. It was James’ first UK Number 1 single in 2013.

It wasn’t long before he co-wrote another UK chart-topper, Blame, this time for Calvin Harris and his younger brother John Newman. The song was a massive hit in several countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Mexico.

Yorkshire-born Newman has worked with many famous artists over the years, including Ed Sheeran who recorded the vocals for Lay It All On Me, a certified platinum single in the UK and US. The singer-songwriter has also been nominated for a Grammy twice, co-writing Coping from Toni Braxton’s album Sex & Cigarettes, and Let ‘Em Talk from Kesha’s album Rainbow.

At the beginning of 2020, James recorded his previous Eurovision entry My Last Breath in Scotland while he was staying on a loch with fellow songwriters Ed Drewett, Iain James and Adam Argyle. James released his debut EP The Things We Do in Summer 2020 and ended the year with another new collaboration with Armin Van Buuren, Slow Lane.

James has two pet house rabbits: Brick and Wilma.

The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest

The United Kingdom made its debut appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1957 and, to date, has won 5 times and hosted the event on 8 occasions; stepping in to stage the show when others were unable to do so. On top of this, the Contest stalwarts hold the record for finishing second, taking the silver medal an impressive (and perhaps frustrating) 15 times.

The United Kingdom last hosted the world’s biggest song competition in 1998 in Birmingham, following Katrina and the Waves' victory with Love Shine A Light. Can James bring the trophy back to 'Blighty' this year so the BBC can host a 9th show?