Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Surely at no point has Ed Harcourt had any valid criticism thrown his way, there is just so much to admire in the man’s music and thoughtfulness of the world we exist in that anyone finding a way to snipe or sneer is arguably only coming from the position of the a high ground that doesn’t matter.
The music has always been beautiful, rage filled, inclusive and honest, it is the sound of modest triumph and the keen eye of the observer patiently watching society, scrutinising each individual and bringing their tale to the table; whether in anger, solace or respect, Ed Harcourt has never let his fan base down and that discerning touch is all over his latest album, Furnaces.
There is something different though in Furnaces, an anger that has always been there comes out with all guns blazing, there is no sign of songs such as Apple of My Eye or the powerful cry of God Protect Your Soul that first entranced listeners, instead the person that Ed is directing his musings and thoughts to are savour, to enjoy being part of and be disturbed by the fever which swallows you up.
Furnaces burns, there is no way to outrun it, there is no chance of escaping it once you have placed your ears close by to hear the quiet breathing of a soul troubled by all he surveys; the danger of the modern apocalypse, the brutality of the male preserve, this is the scream in the breathing and the explosion in the retort and there really are few musicians who can carry of the depth of feeling that this evokes in quite the same way as Ed Harcourt.
In tracks such The World Is On Fire, Occupational Hazard, Nothing But A Bad Trip, the phenomenal Dionysus and Last Of Your Kind, Ed Harcourt pounds out aggression, empathises with the abused and careworn and almost inwardly pleads not to have to go through this type of expression again but knowing full well that the anger that burns is in all of us and is unlike y to ever diminish or fade away. It is to that end that the album truly stands out as a piece of anguished deliverance, of a soul recognising mutiny and not wanting its fellow travellers on this fragile Earth to feel the same torment that it is going through.
A dedicated and sensational album, Ed Harcourt delivers with absolute sincerity again.
Ian D. Hall