“The Gravity story, it all starts on Angelina Jolie’s spaceship,” McNamara revealed. The surreal encounter took place 20 years ago in the car park of a major film studio outside London, where Coldplay were visiting the set of the sci-fi movie The Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. “Me and Chris from Coldplay, we were sat on this huge mock-up of a spaceship… about the size of about five double-decker buses. It was like gold and green and red, and we were sat on it in the car park in the midday sun playing each other songs on an acoustic guitar.”
After McNamara showcased the new Embrace track “Ashes,” Martin responded by previewing an unreleased ballad. “He played me ‘Gravity.’ And I just thought, ‘Wow, that’s like an amazing song.’ It’s up there with like ‘Fix You’ or ‘The Scientist.’ For me, it’s like one of the best ballads they’ve ever written.”
Months later, McNamara received an unexpected late-night phone call from the Coldplay star, who was accompanied by his then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow. “Gwyneth was in the background saying, ‘Go on, ask him. Ask him.’ So anyway, he says, ‘You know Gravity?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Do you want it?'”
McNamara initially hesitated, fearing the high-profile contribution would overshadow his band’s hard-fought comeback album, Out of Nothing. “My thought was like, ‘I don’t want this to be overshadowed by Chris offering us this song,’ so initially I was sort of thinking no. But then I thought, ‘Hang on a minute. He’s the biggest rock star in the world. What are you doing?'” When asked why he was giving the track away, Martin told him, “Well, I think it sounds too much like Embrace for us to use.”
The gesture solidified a deep, lifelong respect between the two frontmen. Dismissing the public misconception that the global superstar is overly conventional, McNamara offered high praise for his longtime peer. “That guy is one of the most interesting, charismatic and fun to be around people I’ve ever met, if not the most,” McNamara stated. “I’ve met a lot of people in my life, a lot of people even more famous than him, and he is far and away the most interesting person. Whenever he’s there, I just stand back and just like let him shine. I love him to bits.”
