Description

The album, which follows Furnaces, his 2016 album for Polydor, sees Ed Harcourt add another new string to his multifaceted musical bow. Something of a leftturn after its busy, bigscreen, somewhat underappreciated predecessor, it sees the supremely versatile singer, writer and allround instrumentalist bravely eschew vocals and lyrics and create a softspoken yet emotionally loquacious group of pianoled instrumentals, as if soundtracking an as yet invisible film, or responding to todayrsquos ferocious shouting match of a planet with a mesmerizing, meditative calm. ldquoThe world that we live in, wersquore exhausted by the internet, social media, the sheer barrage of news and vomit being rained down us on a daily basis. You canrsquot avoid it, and itrsquos tiring. So this record came from taking a step back ndash itrsquos something thatrsquos trying to be beautiful. My hope is that people might choose to swim amongst this music when it all gets too much.rdquo Talking about the gestation of the album, which was written and recorded at his lsquoWolf Cabinrsquo studio in Oxfordshire Harcourt said, ldquoI knew I wanted to buy a new piano. Eventually I found this 1910 Hopkinson Baby Grand, which is exactly the same make and era as my grandmotherrsquos piano which I started learning on and wrote my first three records on. I felt at home again. I needed a break from singing and lyrics so I began writing instrumental music. I grew up listening to and playing Debussy, Satie, Mozart, Grieg, as well as modern composers like Max Richter, Philip Glass, Arvo Part. I also loved Warren Ellis with whom Harcourt worked on the new Marianne Faithfull album and Nick Caversquos score for The Assassination Of Jesse Jameshellip ldquoSo from around February Irsquod get up on the cold mornings, have a coffee after the kids had gone to school, then come in here, shut the door, just playhellipwith the snow coming down outside the window. When I found something I thought worked, Irsquod play it over and over againhelliprdquoWith the piano accompanied on occasion by Edrsquos wife Gita Langleyrsquos violin and Amy Langleyrsquos cello yet in some phases as minimal as Furnaces was maximal, the album carries you through deceptively calm waters while nonetheless stirring up your stormiest inner passions. Reflective, but never passive itrsquos a quiet storm and a curveball which will gently woo you rather than boisterously bundle you over. ldquoItrsquos not contrived, this. Itrsquos come from the heart. I feel like someone might enjoy it on headphones while walking around an unfamiliar city for the first time.rdquo Itrsquos a foreign affair, but only if yoursquove never noticed the depth and diversity thatrsquos always infused Ed Harcourtrsquos music. Ed Harcourt CD is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £9.99