Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
To be able to capture the listener’s heart is to feel assured of the time you placed into the art you slaved over, to capture the melancholic essence of the listener’s soul is to be assured of a far higher purpose than you might have expected.
The imagination requires feeding, the stimuli it provides can be an inspiration to those who might find the dark just a little too enticing, and it takes an artist who understands the withering notes of a tortured soul to express them in such a way that they appear magnificent, almost serene, always passionate, and that is certainly the case when it comes to Ed Harcourt, his lyrics, and his particular way of communicating to the listener via instruments that sing fruitfully and in silence bring beauty.
El Magnifico, the latest release by the musician, is no exception, for it is in the way he manages with aplomb to dig into the soul of what some might consider bleak and plant a seed in the rough that will fight its way to the sunlight and the showers of rain that make him one of the most intriguing and satisfying of artists around.
It is in the shape of the music, the caress of sound that follows, and the simplicity of observation extolled, that El Magnifico offers salvation and joy in equal measure, and as tracks such as the opener 1987, as the dynamic of impression and the wrath of quiet determination that follows of Into The Loving Arms Of Your Enemy, The Violence Of The Rose, Ghost Ship, My Heart Can’t Keep Up With My Mind, At The Dead End Of the World, and the culmination of the album title track of El Magnifico, the sincerity of Ed Harcourt shines through with abundance and with the power befitting such an intellectual mind.
To convey melancholy and courage in the same breath takes a talent many find exclusively out of their reach, but we can still marvel at the way it is presented and produced, we can be thrilled by the dichotomy of time and the far ends of the spectrum they inhabit whilst being comfortable in each other’s company.
An album of torrents and cool grooves, a faith in the confidence of the listener to hear the message and grant their own lives with a sense of resolution and valour; that is the magnificence of any soul, to impart gallantry and fearlessness into those who need it more.
Ian D. Hall