Here Be Monsters

by

Ed Harcourt

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This is an excellent debut. Most first offerings are mired in a cloud of one melody or rhythm spread over ten to twelve tracks. Harcourt succeeds in making every song sound different than the one that preceded it, and in doing this he shows his gift.

As a songwriter, Harcourt has a lot to say. These are not your standard songs of teenage angst. He actually seems to poke fun at this trend in "Hanging With the Wrong Crowd," a superb track.

Of course, the fans that critics like to lump together as liking Radiohead, Buckley, fill in a contemporary British band, etc. will probably like this album a lot. The opening track is clearly influenced by 'No Surprises." But what intelligent band or artist isn't conscious of what Radiohead are up to?

The bottom line is that the music is great, the instrumentation is varied, the lyrics are clever, and in Harcourt the States have received another great British artist a year late.

I recently went to a Neil Finn concert here in LA and Ed Harcourt was the opening act. He has a lot of talent, specifically he is solid when it comes to playing vocals and multiple instruments. This album has some really good moments, namely "God Protect Your Soul" and "Beneath the Heart of Darkness". "Something In My Eye" sounds like something you would hear on Beck's "Mutations" album. Lyrically, Ed is a little inconsistent, but that may improve in time. . "Shanghai" is probably the worst lyrical song on the album. I like the song "Hanging with the Wrong Crowd", but it is not too strong lyrically. "Beneath the Heart of Darkness" shows that he is capable of firing off some great lyrics. He may be a little guilty of trying to emulate his musical influences (Radiohead, Beck and others), but other bands tend to do that too. So, that is forgiveable. Overall, I would recommend this album. I think Ed Harcourt will make it because there are not a lot of good songwriters out there right now, plus he has a knack for creating interesting textures in his music.