Ed Harcourt - Furnaces

Ed Harcourt is still one of the best kept secrets in British songwriting, even six albums and fifteen years after his Mercury Prize nominated Here Be Monsters. He has written songs for the likes of Paloma Faith and James Bay, produced the under-rated Wanderlust album for Sophie Ellis-Bexter and also one of my favourite albums of last year, Kathryn Williams' haunting tribute to Sylvia Plath, Hypoxia. Perhaps it was working with Williams' material that triggered the urge to explore his own darker thoughts and fears in Furnaces, writing of man's duality in greedily exploiting the planet's resources whilst failing to accept responsibility for problems caused. Quite a gear change after six albums of radio-friendly love songs and folk-pop.

The mood is set early on in The World is On Fire, an image painted in epic dimension with influences of Nick Cave applied with bold brush strokes. Indeed the tone perfectly matches the bleak cover artwork contributed by Ralph Steadman. Dinoysus is of course to blame. Not only did the Greek God give us wine, but bestowed the 'golden touch' upon King Midas. We have systematically raped and pillaged the planet ever since.This is indeed a Brave New Harcourt.