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| Yesterday's the day....! Sorry - should have posted this on Monday but as you should all well know by now, Ed's 'Best Of' compilation album is in-store now. Buy / order now to be sure of getting the limited bonus disc with sixteen unreleased tracks - a free album that deserves to be reviewed in it's own right... Today's personal favourite: One Big Shot. |
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YOU PUT A SPELL ON ME
In-stores now... 7", CD and download including exclusive bonus tracks that aren't on the forthcoming album "Until Tomorrow Then"...
"a country tinged stunner" - Sunday Times Culture
Go on, you know you want to... |
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Excerpt from review of "Until Tomorrow Then" from the new issue of Q magazine.
"There are 16 songs here, and not one of them isnt, in some way, life-enhancing. Whether its the sheer joy of Born in the 70s, the spidery waltz of Fireflies Take Flight or Something In My Eyes haunting perfection, he proves himself a master of melody." - Q ****
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Hi All,
There's another Nektar all-dayer tomorrow - same place, same plot with the usual band and a few special guests (which we'll leave as a surprise this time). Kick-off is about 2.30pm, so it would be great if some of you could make it along!!
Aside from this, word reaches me of Ed featuring on the soundtrack of the end credits on the new British 'horror'(?) movie Severance which opens in the UK tonight. Someone go and tell us if it's any good on the board...to see the trailer and play the game etc...go here:
http://www.severancethemovie.co.uk/ |
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Some new Ed news for you...
Pete Townshend / The Who
Ed has been invited to appear on Rachel Fuller and Pete Townshend's special podcast show 'In The Attic' this coming Sunday, July 2nd, which will broadcast live on the web from an original 1950's Airstream trailer, backstage at The Who's Hyde Park Calling gig. Recent guests have included The Flaming Lips and Eels, for more details visit either www.intheattic.tv or www.TheWhoLive.TV
James Dean Bradfield
Never one to sit back and relax, Ed is also playing keyboards for James Dean Bradfield at an intimate live show in London on Tuesday, July 11th at ULU and may also join him for any TV performances to promote James's new single 'That's No Way To Tell A Lie' (out July 10) and following album 'The Great Western' (July 24). See http://www.jamesdeanbradfieldofficial.com or http://www.myspace.com/jamesdeanbradfield
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Death & GloryWhat if it were your son?
In a moment of madness
Took his helmet off
To wipe the blood of his companion's
Face that had been blown apart
With such a force it stopped your heart
Temporarily,
Blinded you and dust and sand
Ripped past your throat but
You survived despite the choke
And then a stray bullet hits
Your unprotected head and after all
You're probably better off dead.
They say there's only death or glory
But please don't bore me with the details
Since the public needn't know how many
Innocents have been murdered.
I have reality TV.
I used to think order came from chaos
What a stupid naive romantic fool I was
Armies used to fight armies
Not any more.
Can we really make a difference
Try to break the cycle of violence
'Stop the war' you say?
Bunch of liberals, commies, gays
'I fought for this country
Back in 1945 son'
Actually there's a difference sir
That was a war we won
'But what about the WMD?'
It's as likely as voting BNP
I don't know what it's like to fight
But I have a fertile imagination
I believe in hope and resolution
Peace and evolution but not
Predictable collateral culling
Of so many diverse races
This is not a debate
Egos left and right
This is real life.
There have always been terrorists
Blowing up aeroplanes and stations
As long as certain governments are
Placing pawns in ill-fated nations
It's cliche at best.
We've helped unleash a hornet's nest
Of unprecedented proportions
A reaction to another reaction
Sniffing out the resources
Despatching unprepared armed forces
To most certain death and that's when
At the very last breath
Tired of feeling sick
Before fading to black
You remember what life used to be like
When you figured it was all right
To follow orders
Murder families
Become de-sensitized, institutionalized
But still scared and disorganized
You felt there was something worth fighting for
But now you're not so sure
And it's too late now...
...slowly disappearing.
Going, finally gone.
What if it were your son?
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Well, today's the day for Ed's new album, so here's a selection of quotes from the UK press reviews:
"The Beautiful Lie is marvellous, each track a lush, inch-perfect melodrama with Harcourt bashing out his demons at the piano." -Mojo
"'The Beautiful Lie' of the title is as eloquent a statement as the material is masterful. It's doomy, it's gothic, it's wonderfully arranged, mostly epic, occasionally sad, sometimes jaunty - and throughout infused with the passion of a storyteller whose delivery and form have finally found synchronicity. A very fine LP." - * * * * - The Fly
"His most mature effort so far. 'I Am The Drug' employs a Tom Waits-ian rhumba-rock groove washed with strings and streaked with spiky astringent guitar to help characterise the insatiable itch of addiction." - * * * * - Independent
"His best since Here Be Monsters. Harcourt's mini-operas pack more incident into their three minutes than many bands manage in a career. A fine songwriter with the flourishes of an at times master showman." - Q
"Ed Harcourt shows many an 'artist' how being productive doesn't mean a drop in quality. He has once again captured that dark, English melancholia and set it to some surprisingly upbeat melodies. A uniquely English talent who continues to strengthen his reputation and build an ever more impressive back catalogue." - Clash
"Late Night Partner is Harcourt at his broken hearted best." - The Guardian
"With so much histrionic angst abound within indie and pop at the moment, it's refreshing to hear a collection of believeable songs and lyrics with a delivery that will touch even the coldest of shoulders." - 89% - Spill |
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Ed's live tour as a special guest of KT Tunstall starts this evening in Southampton, see other news below for the full details, but this is just a quick note to say "hello and welcome" to any new visitors who see Ed on these dates and have decided to check out his site.
Come on in and feel free to make yourself at home and have a good look around! |
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Here's Ed's take on Elephant's Graveyard.
The Unlucky One
We recorded this one in the winter of 2000 whilst making Here Be Monsters; it's basically a rough mix...the drums are much too quiet but I kind of like that indistinction. It was very late at night as usual and the band and myself had probably had too much to drink...Tim Holmes was at the controls as Steve Gullick did his best Dennis Hopper impression, hopping around the room snapping away. I guess I thought it was too rock-opera to make the album. Lyrically not a very cheery tale!
T Bone Tombstone
This is another narrative of childhood despair, about a boy who disappears in the woods and then thought to have been dead by his family for years, returns as a man looking down over his own grave. I did this in my late grandmother's house on my 4-track cassette machine. I didn't have a drum kit at the time so I'd use the skin of my brother's banjo through some sort of delay pedal. I haven't played it live for a while - maybe time to dust off my bossanove chops.
Here Be Monsters
Um, another childhood tale on the 4-track about a boy who falls down a well and finds some sort of gateway to a nightmarish world. I don't know why there is this running theme I have (i.e. 'Trapdoor', 'Heart Of Darkness'), could well be some sub-conscious dream process playing a minor part I guess. Weirdly enough, it happens to be my mother's favourite song! I've always had an interest in the power of organised religion; the way fear and ignorance is methodically used as a way to control the masses, this song is a sort of metaphor for not trusting anyone. It also features whistling!
I've Become Misguided
This featured on Maplewood but I wanted to try a full-band version. We recorded it in Ridge Farm in the HBM sessions - I remember all of us marching on the gravel at night to create this ghostly parade rhythm track...for some reason it was lost in the transferring of the exobyte tape so we had to re-do it in the Church with Gil Norton. If you listen to it on headphones, the marching band in the middle starts walking from your left ear to your right and then round a corner into your brain. Some nice growling too. I had seriously bad bronchitis at the time which is why I sound so out of breath.
When Americans Come To London
Recorded in 2kHz off Scrubs Lane in west London. Bit of a cheeky one really, taking the mickey out of US tourists clothes, vacant expressions and pastimes that I kept noticing every summer, but somehow still making it sound like a love song. I've managed to play it in the US without getting lynched. Feature's the first use of Leo's KORG Kaoss Pad (for any techno-nerds out there).
Alligator Boy
Ah yes, this one is one of my personal favourites. Been around for a while before we recorded it. The drums were recorded in the smallest room in Eastcote studios - Nick Yeatman had to climb over the kit to play it. We had a seriously good time playing it as I recall. Both my brothers popped in and sang backing vocals at the end. I like to call them the Brothers Grim. I wrote about all the Neanderthal idiots who walk around in packs on the streets, feeling big and strong as they hurl abuse at women. Or it could just be about an alligator boy, who knows?
Weary And Bleary Eyed
A gypsy waltz about insomnia, something I and many others I'm sure suffer from intermittently. Ruth Hogan came in to play some violin and it was very quick and simple. When I'm down in Sussex I tend to find if I've been working on music 'til about 5 in the morning, I try to go to sleep just as the sun's coming up and it feels like the morning birds are all shouting and twittering in my ear. So this song is a sort of revenge on them.
Last Of The Troubadors
There's a song called 'Time' by Tom Waits which has these two guitars playing around each other. Leo and I sat opposite one another and tried to do the same thing. The character in the song is floating over the people at his funeral and watching them all talk about him and make small chit-chat in the reception afterwards...he soon stops being a ghost because his life was ultimately fulfilled in the end. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that music is more important to me than anything, especially in setting things right in your own mind.
Little Silver Bullet
What the hell is this one about? I'm not sure. Some werewolf saga I assume. I wrote it when I was about 19 years old. I think the anti-hero of the story is in trouble and on the run from EVERYTHING! We tried to create a sort of wild west bar-room scene in the middle of the song, the sound of Hadrian (trumpet) breaking a beer bottle over someone's head. I need to start playing this one live more because it's a lot of fun and not as mopey as some of my other stuff so it would be a good balance.
Sleepyhead
I love this one a lot. The song sounds the way it should, sleeeeeeeeepy, zzzzzzzz. We recorded a few cars driving by on a hot summer's day in 2001 so it sounded like just a group of people playing by the side of some deserted road. The 'devil's ridge' is a reference to the devil's punchbowl in Hampshire(?) which my parents used to always drive past when I was young and we were going south for the summer.
Coal Black Heart
Another love song, almost too personal, needy and over-melancholy in a way. But I'm glad I could get a reference to the Royal Academy of Art in there. This is a rough mix from the HBM sessions but I think it sounds ok. Do I get away with rhyming 'Caspian sea' with 'vicinity'?? Hmmmm.
Blackwoods Back Home
My grandmother's dog was an overweight, golden retriever and I used to have to take it for a walk at night so it could do it's 'business'. For some reason it always used to sit by this really creepy tree that loomed over me in the dark wind and reminded me of the chase scene in 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. So I wrote this song about that! Jeff Barrett says the marimba reminds him of someone typing really quickly on an old typewriter that goes 'ding!' every 5 seconds.
Still I Dream Of It
As heard originally on the Brian Wilson documentary 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times'...the version there is a scratchy home-recording that just breaks my heart. I figured that if I was going to cover a song that sounded this lo-fi already, it should be done in a really straight and lush way with a full band and strings that ends in some beautiful cacophony. Leo Abrahams (guitar) wrote the string arrangement on the way back from a festival with me on guitar!! He is a bit of a genius like Mr Wilson too.
The Ghosts Parade
Now we're getting into the 'From Every Sphere' sessions with Tchad Blake. I recorded about 21 songs intended for a double album but for some odd reason it never happened. So there were nine songs left over of which three have never been heard before and the others became odd B-sides etc' It was a shame because even if the double album had been a failure, at least it would have been a grandiose failure! We were experimenting quite a lot with different sounds and instruments, sampling ourselves and my 4-track stuff but so it didn't sound like sampling. There's a thumb-piano and weird keyboard sounds, atonal guitars etc' It goes on for a bit too long but I like the section at the end, reminds me of the ghosts all crashing into a wall with their instruments (like the marching band at the end of 'Animal House'?).
Angels On Your Body
David Coulter, who played in the Black Rider band, plays the saw as if it's some menacing beautiful angel. Leo wrote a great woodwind quintet part for this as well. It's about someone being blissfully un-aware of how they affect the world around them with their presence. I really love Hadrian's trumpet line here too. We made Arnulf walk into the studio and pick up his double bass coming into the middle of the song; you then hear him walking out at the end (recorded on the Binaural heads that Tchad uses a lot).
The Hammer And The Nail
This was the first song I recorded with Tchad, on my own. I think this should've been on the album. It feels like the saddest little lullaby I've written. I have another obsession with the sea but I don't think this song needs much explaining. Tchad is probably the best at recording instruments in the world I think.
She Put A Curse On Me (Parts I & II)
Phew! This took ages to make. It's basically two songs spliced together, the first is in love with life and scared about the outcome of the world, the second is a journey into Conrad's heart of darkness again - but within an unhealthy relationship I assume. We sampled most of my 4-track and then I played drums over the top of it. See if you can work out what song from HBM pops up in the intersection. Tchad plays the hose on this one. No he really does - it's the sort of screeching sound in the second part.
The Iceman Cometh
This is the cousin of 'The Hammer And The Nail'. I recorded it the next day. I got a call about a good friend who drowned in Ecuador whilst I was in the middle of this song. I had only seen her the week before - what was so strange is that both these songs were closely connected to drowning or being pulled under the sea by something. It was extremely sad and very unsettling. We used rubber bass strings and Leo added some amazing guitar as usual.
Asleep At The Helm
Another paranoid song! Self-explanatory story of a driver's descent into madness. A 'Duel' theme perhaps. I tend to mostly think of films I watched endlessly as a child as references to the song's ideas or narratives. What about the riff at the end! Rocks like Mount Rushmore even if there is an accordion playing along side.
Sugarbomb
Damn this was seriously hard to sing. I shouldn't write songs in such high keys. One day I'm gonna play this live because I think it has the potential but I'll have to take it down a key or become a eunuch. Can you guess the probable outcome? I remember jumping around Real World studios drinking red wine and annoying everyone around me whenever this was up on the mixing desk. Should've been on the album. Oh well. Typical bar-fight / jealousy / female oral sex song.
Paid To Get Drunk
I recorded Lisa Germano on violin in her flat in LA. I think I was feeling guilty that I was enjoying myself too much and just drinking too much blah blah blah so I wrote this song inspired by it. You know those kind of people who think they're so interesting and funny when they're wasted but they're not? That's me! I was reading a lot of Charles Bukowski at the time.
Atlantic City
Michael Bonner came up to me in the Islington Social on New Year's Day - I was in an extremely fragile state of mind - and asked me if I wanted to record a Bruce Springsteen cover for Uncut. So I went to Abbey Road and did it in the studio where The Beatles made the 'White Album' and various others...I'd been up 'til seven in the morning the night before and had a massive cigar burn on my hand - that's probably why my voice sounds so frazzled and hoarse. It's always nice to cover a song that was originally on guitar, on a piano. Apparently there's a Bruce Springsteen appreciation society in Norway and they play my version of this song at the start of their club nights each month!!
Deathsexmarch
How to lose friends and alienate your fans/record company. The deep mumbling is Christoffer, the Swedish engineer and owner of the studio we were in. There is another instrumental called 'ADD' which will come out soon I hope. Note the completely random bass playing and my debut performance on the musical saw.
Mysteriously
Sondre Lerche was in town for this one...he comes in ever so slightly at the end of the song. Just a little ditty I guess. We put a guitar string over the strings of the upright piano so it sounded all old and honky-tonk like a tack piano.
Only Happy When You're High
This was done live with Andy Young (Lift To Experience) on the drums and vibraphone. It's about people who are so emotionally crippled they can only communicate with each other through the medium of drugs. I really like the looseness of the song and Leo's messed-up guitar treatments. And I'm playing the piano that was used on 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA!!
Breathe A Little Softer
Two guitars, two vocals. I have video footage of myself in dark glasses a little worse for wear doing this actual take. We used these microphones that pick up the slightest movement, they're these long thin mics that were used in the WWII to spy on the English by the 'neutral' Swedes. Hadrian starts washing up half way through the song. What is it about? I have no idea.
Every Night
I felt seriously bad and sick to the stomach whilst singing this one. Too much red wine and whiskey the night before to keep ourselves warm in the Swedish woods. I wrote it a dressing room in the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Just me and a guitar and an echo chamber. Maybe it should've been on the last album.
Epitaph
Piano and voice. Simple love song. That's all there is to it. I think some of The Concretes were milling around somewhere.
Hope you all enjoy this little collection of songs.
Best Regards
EH x
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