{"title":"Ed Harcourt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter born on August 14, 1977 in Wimbledon, London, England. He gained recognition with his debut album, Here Be Monsters, which was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2001.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a unique blend of indie rock and folk influences, Harcourt has carved out his own distinctive sound. His heartfelt lyrics and soulful melodies have captivated audiences worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by artists such as Richard Hawley, Turin Brakes, Badly Drawn Boy, and Rufus Wainwright among others, Harcourt's music resonates with fans who appreciate thoughtful songwriting and emotive performances.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"el-magnifico","title":"El Magnifico","description":"\u003cp\u003eEd Harcourt releases his new album, \u003ci\u003eEl Magnifico\u003c\/i\u003e via own imprint, Deathless Recordings. The self-produced album was recorded at his own Wolf Cabin studios with finishing touches made with assistance from producer Dave Izumi Lynch at Eastbourne’s Echo Zoo Studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaking his debut with the Mercury Prize-nominated \u003ci\u003eHere Be Monsters\u003c\/i\u003e in 2001, Harcourt has released music under his own name that blends raw emotions, impeccable songwriting and visionary flights of imagination. A succession of ten rich, enthralling albums have followed that first spark of his, including the intoxicating addictive \u003ci\u003eStrangers \u003c\/i\u003ein 2004; 2013’s breathless \u003ci\u003eBack Into The Woods\u003c\/i\u003e which was recorded in just eight hours; and \u003ci\u003eFurnaces \u003c\/i\u003ewhich compellingly and entreatingly envisioned family ties confronted by the small matter of the apocalypse. After that LP in 2016, Harcourt then moved to explore the instrumental sphere with recent soundscape albums \u003ci\u003eBeyond The End\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMonochrome To Colour\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile recognisably bearing all the hallmarks that have made him such an admired and prolific songwriter, one of Britain’s most cherished yet inventive music creators, Ed’s new record, \u003ci\u003eEl Magnifico, \u003c\/i\u003e also finds him striving for something new. It is an \u003ci\u003eEd Harcourt record\u003c\/i\u003e, but one with a desire to seek fresh reward. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I think as a songwriter you do get to a point where you're aware of your past and what you’ve done,” suggests Harcourt of El Magnifico’s mixture of assuredness and aspiration. “It’s knowing what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, but also knowing how to better yourself by doing things you haven't done before.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e “I find that I’m always learning,” Harcourt adds. “When I’m writing with someone else it’s always a total blank canvas so you have to be open to trying new things. It means with every record I do myself it’s got to have something different in it. Every album is always a reaction to the last thing I did. After the Furnaces, which was quite heavy and experimental, I felt it was time I went back to the source a bit. So maybe there is a sense here of drawing on what people perhaps know me for, but there is also a big step forward.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album’s first four songs – which span his autobiographical ode to life in the face dodging death, 1987; the golden pop of Into The Loving Arms Of Your Enemy; Broken Keys,’ which features Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli and folk singer Kathryn Williams; and Strange Beauty – set a blistering emotional pace. Though it is testament to Harcourt’s abilities as a songwriter, that when he shifts from this opening salvo into the gentle fragility of The Violence Of The Rose, it is immediately clear it is all part of the same, wonderful journey.    \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“There’s definitely a thread running through the album,” confirms Harcourt of the record he produced in his studio at the bottom of his garden, while also making use of the natural resonance of his local church to capture the album's array of string parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith songs like Ghost Ship and Anvils and Hammers (the latter inspired by daydreaming a sudden, muddy descent into the centre of the earth via the puddles on his lawn) finding Harcourt pouring his out his experiences through the simple honesty of one man sitting at a piano, there is a moving rawness to \u003ci\u003eEl Magnifico’s\u003c\/i\u003e tenderest moments. These contrast beautifully with the twinkling musical gems that adorn the record’s bigger expressions, like Deathless, My Heart Can't Keep Up With My Mind and The Dead Of The World, the latter featuring singer Stevie Parker whom Harcourt has written with. These bolder moments find Harcourt pushing musically and lyrically as it takes an atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of his first album yet there is added depth and fresh perspectives as he presents a widescreen view of his musical universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the album reaches its conclusion, Harcourt’s focus adjusts once more. The passing of a close friend part inspired the tale of a wrathful angel at the centre of inverted hymn Seraphina {“I've always been interested in the whole dichotomy as well of human beings being creators and destroyers,” he notes), before the album ends with its yearning yet hopeful title track, its muted Spanish trumpet peering hopefully towards the sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album was completed with the input of friend and producer Dave Izumi Lynch at Eastbourne’s Echo Zoo studio (“I played him a bunch of tracks, he went ‘yes, yes, no, no’ and we ended up with 12 songs,” recalls Harcourt, “then we worked on finishing and mixing them.”) though El Magnifico’s spirit owes much to Harcourt’s initial writing and recording approach, an experience that saw him revel in creative freedom as he indulged his impulses and tried not to outthink instincts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“One of the important things with the record for me is that it feels like a combination of everything that I've done, yet it’s also opened up so many new possibilities,” Harcourt suggests. “I met Randy Newman at the Ivor Novello Awards once and I asked him ‘What is the secret of a great song?’ And he just said, ‘I don’t know, you just have to sit around and wait for it to come along.’ I guess that is true. He just does what he does, and I realised, I just have to do what I do.” Though its title was coined in jest, as his new album attests what Ed Harcourt \u003ci\u003edoes\u003c\/i\u003e is proving to be fittingly magnificent.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Deathless Recordings","offers":[{"title":"CD.","offer_id":50405354864971,"sku":"2168351","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50405355389259,"sku":"2168352","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/El_Magnifico_1_58e656c4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726576124"},{"product_id":"back-into-the-woods","title":"Back Into The Woods","description":"\u003cp\u003efor ed harcourt's sixth studio album, the previously mercury prize nominated artist spent just six hours in abbey road with three pianos, a guitar, a string section (including ed's wife gita), and a bottle of wild turkey. think tom waits piano ballads, guitars haunted by jeff buckley, and a glimmer of '69 love songs' sentimentality.vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50410405331275,"sku":"359467","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8869b982-d84c-4801-af01-034c2c93cff8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726640891"},{"product_id":"monochrome-to-colour","title":"Monochrome To Colour","description":"\u003cp\u003eHaunting and other-worldy new record from Ed Harcourt, his ninth studio album. Second release on Point Of Departure following 2018’s release, Beyond The End. Recorded at his own ‘Wolf Cabin’ studio in rural Oxfordshire between January and October 2019, this beautiful 12-track album was written and produced entirely by Harcourt. It features Clive Deamer from Portishead on drums on three\u003cbr\u003etracks, and Gita and Amy Langley on violin and cello respectively\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe new album is full of rapturous outreach. It was made with an interesting blend of instrumentation, ancient and modern. There’s a 1910 Hopkinson baby grand piano, and also a dulcitone, a 19th-century oddity where hammers strike an array of tuning forks\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDouble heavyweight black vinyl housed inside a gatefold sleeve with high gloss\u003cbr\u003efinish. Artwork designed by renowned photographer Steve Gullick\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Point Of Departure Recording Co","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50479156855115,"sku":"1097480","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50479157150027,"sku":"1097479","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/52763c05-30dd-455e-b3b3-5ba4493b907b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727502637"},{"product_id":"beyond-the-end","title":"Beyond The End","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the eighth studio album from Ed Harcourt and it’s his first to be fully instrumental. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded in Ed’s Oxfordshire Wolf Cabin studio and written on a 1910 Hopkinson Baby Grand piano (the exact make and era of piano that Ed learnt to play on). With Ed Harcourt you’re usually waiting for the lush vocals to come in. With their lack (this IS an instrumental album…and it’s not really a lack..) you can relax and let the piano flow around you. The beautiful notes are unadorned and undecorated falling around you like undemanding, drifting snow. A brief respite from the over-fried franticness of everyday life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVIDEO PREMIERE\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEXCLUSIVE! Join Ed as he discusses the creative and recording processes explored during the creation of new instrumental album \u003ci\u003eBeyond The End.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vvFg6YE0vv8\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black Vinyl housed in Gatefold Sleeve with Download.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCD - Standard Jewel Case.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Point Of Departure Recording Co","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50498026176843,"sku":"1047910","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1d428f23-6ed8-40fe-89dd-4faafd11036b_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727737161"},{"product_id":"orphic","title":"Orphic","description":"\u003cp\u003eMaking his debut with the Mercury Prize-nominated Here Be Monsters (2001, Heavenly\/EMI), Ed Harcourt has built a career defined by raw emotion, masterful songwriting, and visionary imagination. He has released ten acclaimed albums, including \u003cem\u003eStrangers\u003c\/em\u003e (2004), \u003cem\u003eBack Into the Woods\u003c\/em\u003e (2013), and \u003cem\u003eFurnaces\u003c\/em\u003e (2016), before expanding into instrumental and soundscape work with \u003cem\u003eBeyond the End\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMonochrome to Colour\u003c\/em\u003e. His 2024 release, El Magnifico, received some of the strongest reviews of his career. Beyond his solo work, Harcourt has written and produced for Paloma Faith, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Marianne Faithfull, and others. His composition and soundtrack credits span film and television, and in March 2024 he received a BAFTA nomination for his score to the documentary \u003cem\u003eOtto Baxter: Not A Fucking Horror Story\u003c\/em\u003e. His next album, \u003cem\u003eOrphic,\u003c\/em\u003e is due in 2025 on Deathless Recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed for his darkly poetic, piano-driven sound and dynamic live performances—ranging from intimate solo sets to full orchestral productions— Harcourt is not to be missed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Deathless Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53579977720139,"sku":"R0533-0950","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ed-harcourt-orphic-cover-1600.webp?v=1760217079"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_fb8f3a08_thumbnail_4096_50748f4b-cdae-422c-8e09-758bf713a4f8.jpg?v=1726576088","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/ed-harcourt.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}