Okay, let's do this backwards. If you're not sure who Ed Harcourt is, press this link and go right to the clips and listen to "You Only Call Me When You're Drunk." If you did that, you probably played the other 3 clips as well, and may have bought the new record, The Beautiful Lie, or the recent Best Of, called Until Tomorrow, Then. We can only hope that you'll wind your way back to this conversation with this brilliant and prolific UK talent from Sussex.
That's where we began, with the Best Of. Late to the party again...but better late than never. Life goes by too fast, and there are too many great artists out there for this little webzine that could and would to put a finger on them all. And we do appreciate those of you who turn our attention to brilliance in all its forms.
The Beautiful Lie, if you live in the U.S., is Ed's seventh record. (In the UK, it came out before the Best Of collection.) He's opened shows and tours for acts as big as R.E.M., Neil Finn and Wilco, and artists as big as Feist have opened for him. He just knocked 'em dead by all accounts at the recent SXSW in Austin.
He's a multi-instrumentalist that is a pianist foremost, and his wife Gita plays violin and guitar with him, as well as being a fine singer. His influences are audible, but not as much as his own spin and genius are. If you predictably fall for his music they way we did, the back catalog is an immediate issue, so we do suggest you get started right away absorbing the wares and ways of our new favorite ne'er do well, the affable, ineffable Ed Harcourt. This cat's amazing.
