Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt’s music tenuously and vaguely matches his past to date: varied, at times surprising, and completely unique. His father was a diplomat, and this meant a lot of travelling at a reasonably young age, garnering him a set of experiences which ranged from generating the suspicion of Swedes staring at him through a toilet-wall in Stockholm, to horrifying times in boarding-school.
Thus, when approached with the chance of university, he opted for a way out – to be in a band. Yet, Ed’s hardly the kind of guy to merely stand in as just one of several: he’s far too focussed, hard-working and domineering to put up with those that can’t run alongside his musical-needs. Earning his money as a chef, he spent his spare-time writing legions of songs in his gran’s home, going on to record on simple equipment six songs which would form ‘Maplewood’, his debut release for EMI:Chrysalis. Songs of aching love, gospel-influence and a little bit of Randy Newman and Tom Waits here and there, the mini-LP received stunning reviews and got the ball rolling for his follow-up effort...
... Which arrived in the form of his debut album proper, ‘Here Be Monsters’. Fusing production from the likes of Dave Fridmann and Gil Norton with his infectious pop-offerings such as ‘She Fell Into My Arms’ and ‘Apple Of My Eye’ plus the haunting ‘God Protect Your Soul’ and ‘Beneath The Heart Of Darkness’, the record was an underground success, adored by the media and all those that heard it.
Now, though, what with international-waters calling for his talent, he is currently looking towards building his reputation in territories aside from the UK. And, with his new album ready and waiting for release in Autumn 2002, to say that the future’s bright wouldn’t be too wrong a statement.
Photo Credit: Copyright Steve Gullick
OFFICIAL SITE: Quite moody and extensive, with some exceptional Flash animation.
HEAVENLY RECORDS: The guy\'s record-company website - check out his label-mates Doves and The Vines.