Ed Harcourt - 'From Every Sphere' (Heavenly)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
There's only one possible thing with the capability to spoil your enjoyment of this fine album - all out, fuming, seething jealousy. Ed Harcourt is one of the most strikingly talented solo artists in recent history. You are not. There is no likelihood that you will ever be quite this good. If it's any consolation, pretty much everyone else is in the same boat. Yet it's an obstacle that needs overcoming, that's for sure, as the first thing that hits you about Ed's new album 'From Every Sphere' is just quite how ridiculously gifted a songwriter Mr Harcourt is. However, if you're big enough to put the inevitable envy to one side, you're in for one of the most delicious musical treats of the year.
You want a standout track? It's near enough impossible to pick, as over the course of the record Ed gives you twelve of them, in an abundant variety of styles; the only aspect each of these songs collectively have in common is their quality, skipping from the glorious, simplistic pop of opener 'Bittersweetheart' to the altogether more paranoid, Beefheart-esque funk of 'Ghostwriter' without losing any coherence along the way. It's a mammoth leap from his last album, the widely adored 'Here Be Monsters' - of course, that was undeniably great too. But this is something else.
The instantly memorable recent single 'All of Your Days Will Be Blessed' showcases Harcourt at his most accessible; although the grandiose arrangement is one that The Beach Boys would have been proud to take credit for, the difficult trick of simultaneously remaining thoroughly intimate is one pulled off without any hint of trouble or lack of conviction. Maybe it's the squeaks of the pump organ in the intro making it sound as if the wonderful instrument is being played a few feet away. Or perhaps it's something to do with the whole thing feeling as if Ed's consciously trying to cheer you up - 'Put on a smile, get dressed!', and, suddenly, everything seems much better.
Far from being all so upbeat, 'From Every Sphere' is an album written around two moods in constant battle. Yes, there's an air of defiance and quiet confidence to the likes of 'The Birds Will Sing for Us' (the song Elliot Smith's been trying to write his entire career) and the sublime next single 'Watching the Sun Come Up', but countering its every smile is something as sombre and upsetting as 'Bleed A River Deep' or 'Sister Renee', both dealing with mortality in differing, but equally heartbreaking ways. If anything, it's this variation in sentiment that gives the album its palpable, driving momentum.
Proceedings are rounded off with the brooding tones of the epic title-track (think a world-weary, older brother to Coldplay's 'The Scientist' and you're nearly there). And like everything else here, it's gorgeous. As is made clearly evident on 'From Every Sphere', EH may be an accomplished songsmith, pianist, guitar maestro and percussion-player amongst other things, but it's the heart-strings he knows how to tug at best. True, nobody has the right to be this talented. But so long as he's putting it to effects as good as this, he'll be receiving nothing but our encouragement and accolade.
Artists in this article: Ed Harcourt
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