ReviewAlbum review: Ed Harcourt creates the masterpiece fans have been expecting
Harcourt is a master of brooding, ghostly pop, and finally he’s found the perfect expression of his intense, cinematic vision
Furnaces
Polydor
To many a music fan, English singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt has long been one of “those guys”, recognisable by name and style but whose actual tracks are difficult to recall. Ever since his 2001 Mercury-nominated debut, Here Be Monsters, Harcourt has seemed content to float along on warm critical praise, sitting just below the mainstream radar. While his seventh solo album, Furnaces, isn’t likely to worry Frank Ocean at the top of the hit parade, the 39-year-old balladeer may have finally written the complete, dark and majestic masterpiece that he’s been threatening to create for 15 years. Harcourt’s brand of ghostly pop has always had a bleakness and weight to it, but this time it comes with a fiery focused intent. Super-producer Flood brings a taut intensity to the brooding cinematic atmosphere, the Elbow-esque Occupational Hazard bettered only by the staggering Immoral, but, when Harcourt casually states, “I’m coming to get what I came for”, on Loup Garou, you know this time he’s serious.