ARTIST: Ed Harcourt
TITLE: The Beautiful Lie
LABEL: Heavenly
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 179kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 54min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-06-06
RIP DATE: 2006-05-27
Track List
----------
01. Whirlwind In D Minor 3:57
02. Visit From The Dead Dog 3:01
03. You Only Call Me When You're 4:27
Drunk
04. The Last Cigarette 3:30
05. Shadowboxing 3:20
06. Late Night Partner 4:36
07. Revolution In The Heart 4:20
08. Until Tomorrow Then 3:56
09. Scatterbraine 2:46
10. Rain On The Pretty Ones 4:18
11. The Pristine Claw 3:18
12. I Am The Drug 3:31
13. Braille 5:31
14. Good Friends Are Hard To Find 3:52
Release Notes:
The word ôprolificö really doesnÆt do justice to a talent such as Ed Harcourt.
æThe Beautiful LieÆ, his fifth album since the turn of the millennium, is one
of those records that on first inspection, many critics would probably look at
once, dismiss it with the rest of the Gray/Blunt/Rice pretenders, and throw it
to one side, never to be heard of again.
But then of course, its highly unlikely that theyÆve ever heard any of
HarcourtÆs previous works, such as the immaculate æBorn In The 70sÆ or the
album which it came from, 2004Æs æStrangersÆ, so their ignorance is compounded
by their loss. Since then of course, Harcourt released the mammoth
download-only fest of outtakes and rarities that was æElephantÆs GraveyardÆ,
and while the overall quality was unsurprisingly, not up to the standard of
its predecessors, it still represented another achievement for one of the
countryÆs hardest working singer/songwriters.
So, bearing all that in mind, and obviously with the rise to prominence of the
Blunts and Powters of this world, what does æThe Beautiful LieÆ hold in store
for Harcourt, and more importantly, is it a progression from the dark,
inhibited world of æStrangersÆ, which many of his most devoted fans deem to be
his best work, better even than his Mercury Music Prize nominated introduction
æHere Be MonstersÆ.
In many ways, the answer to that question is a resounding ôYesö, as æThe
Beautiful LieÆ feels like an amalgamation of all the best parts of HarcourtÆs
previous works, not to mention collating a varying range of moods and styles
that could quite easily have been lifted from any of their creatorÆs earlier
records, which is no mean feat in itself.
Opener æWhirlwind In D MinorÆ sets the scene quite eloquently for the rest of
the record, casting aspersions over a country-tinged backbeat with such
wistful observations as ôWill you love me when IÆm old?ö, almost like a new
age Radiohead after a six month secondment in Nashville. What follows though
isnÆt a deluge of overworked melancholia. Instead the party anthem æYou Only
Call Me When IÆm DrunkÆ and latent rocker æShadowboxingÆ show a more upbeat
side to HarcourtÆs persona, while the bass heavy garage sprawl of æI Am The
DrugÆ, in which Harcourt insists ôIÆm not dryàö over a buzzing aurora of
pedals that make it sound like it was recorded in Lenny KayeÆs living room
shows a variant that draws comparisons with the likes of Brendan Benson.
Elsewhere, there is a feeling of ôbusiness as usualö in that HarcourtÆs folky
roots come to the fore, particularly on the balladeering æRain On The Pretty
OnesÆ and closing æGood Friends Are Hard To FindÆ, while the haunting
æBrailleÆ sees him agonising with the prospect of death before buoyantly
announcing ôIÆm not scared of dyingö at the songÆs own end.
Standing out tall and proud from the rest of the record though is the
uber-sounding orchestral delight that is æRevolution In The HeartÆ, a
reflective call to arms that mimics REMÆs æItÆs the End Of The World (As We
Know It)Æ for sentiment but ends up sounding like an urban Bob Dylan for 21st
century Britain. In fact, IÆd stake my house on this being the song that
could break Harcourt in the mainstream if his label bosses at Heavenly were
to release it as a single.
Saying that, Harcourt obviously doesnÆt require celebrity status like many of
his contemporaries, and indeed why should he when his muse is capable of
releasing such definitive collections as this. æThe Beautiful LieÆ may not be
his most distinctive album, but its sure as hell his most complete, and one
that will ensure Ed Harcourt remains a focal figure on the map of credibility
as far as singer/songwriters go.