Ed Harcourt
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Here Be Monsters (2001), 7/10
From Every Sphere (2003), 6/10
Strangers (2004), 5/10
The Beautiful Lie (2006), 5/10
Lustre (2010), 5/10
Furnaces (2016), 6/10
El Magnifico (2024), 5/10
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)

Ed Harcourt, a classically-trained pianist, debuted with a home-made six-song EP, Maplewood (Heavenly, 2000), that barely scratched the surface of his repertory. The songs, sandwiched between an old-fashioned pop tune like Hanging With The Wrong Crowd and a funereal trumpet-driven elegy like Whistle Of A Distant Train, explore a vast stylistic territory, unafraid to mix and combine incompatible genres: I've Become Misguided straddles the unlikely border between vintage banjo-driven musichall skits and distortion-drenched psych-rock; Apple Of My Eye sits halfway between Kenny Rogers and a soul shouter; and standout He's Building A Swamp blends Mexican street band, martial country-western and a smoky Tom Waits. And there's even a somnolent nocturnal jazz ballad, Attaboy Go Spin A Yarn.

The album Here Be Monsters (Heavenly, 2001) delivered another eclectic repertory, running the gamut from the psych-pop litany Something In My Eye (Mercury Rev meets Sparklehorse) to the Nick Cave-esque melodrama God Protect Your Soul to the pounding orchestral David Bowie-esque Shanghai, and from the catchy piano-driven march-tempo pop ditty She Fell Into My Arms to the gentle lullaby Birds Fly Backwards, including a majestic version of Hanging With The Wrong Crowd and a bluesy version of Apple Of My Eye. He is also capable of more complex scores, like the impressionistic and oneiric lullaby Wind Through The Trees and the industrial-metal noise that detonates the otherwise folksy seven-minute Beneath The Heart Of Darkness. His arranging skills are on display in songs like Like Only Lovers Can where his slow austere crooning is accompanied by a series of discrete instruments, from piano to violin to trumpet.

While not as original or profound as the debut, Harcourt's more ornate second album From Every Sphere (Heavenly, 2003) confirmed the young songwriter among the most promising talents of his generation. A more calculated strategy yields the romantic pop of Bittersweetheart, the Beatles-esque ditty All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed, the jangling folk-rock of The Birds Will Sing For Us, and the call-and-response serenade Metaphorically Yours. However, the anemic lament of Bleed A River Deep, the orchestral elegy Sister Renee, the simple madrigal of Fireflies Take Flight, and the derivative Bowie-esque Watching The Sun Come Up prove the limits, not the potential, of his method. This generally bland effort is lifted by a touch of Nine Inch Nails' industrial-metal in Ghost Writer and by the eccentric piano and guitar arrangement of Undertaker Strut.

Strangers (Heavenly, 2004 - Astralwerks, 2005) is a disappointment. While the general tone is mildly more upbeat, only about two or three tunes are worthy of his canon (The Storm Is Coming, This One's For You, Something To Live For).

It takes even more patience to go through the collection of The Beautiful Lie (Heavenly, 2006). One or two of the songs (notably Whirlwind In D Minor) is cute and effective, but most are pure filler. If one adds all his albums together, Harcourt still hasn't composed enough sonds to fill an album. Why release four of them?

Lustre (Piano Wolf, 2010) fails to dispel the fundamental ambiguity of the man, who can be alternatively romantic (Haywired) and playful (Do as I Say Not as I Do), swing from the pensive Lachrymosity to the aggressive Lustre, and pen the eccentric Heart of a Wolf as well as the delirious Church of No Religion; with little or no interest in stylistic innovation.

Back Into The Woods (2013) contains more of his bland but profound pop ballads, like Murmur In My Heart, The Cusp & The Wane, and Wandering Eye.

The six-song EP Time Of Dust (2014) was his best collection in ten years.

Furnaces (2016), even better, benefited from a gloomy and noisy production by Mark "Flood" Ellis.

Kakistocracy (2017) contains politicized instrumentals, and Beyond The End (2018) and Monochrome To Colour (2020) were collections of piano-based instrumentals, his new specialty. He also scored film soundtracks.

Son Of Maplewood (2020), Daughter Of Maplewood (2021) and Grandson of Maplewood (2022) collect rarities.

El Magnifico (2024) contains Broken Keys, a duet with Greg Dulli.

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