There is no question that we're living in strange times.
The headlines seem to become more grotesque, more alienating everyday, and sometimes it can seem that music is our only respite.
Ed Harcourt desires to bring together these contradictory feelings, these quite opposite emotions.
New album 'Furnaces' is incoming, following months spent in the studio working with legendary producer Flood.
Ed Harcourt explains: “I think someone needs to come along with a record like this… These are songs about the menace and the threat that men in general pose to everything and everyone: women, children, nature. The record is from a father's head and heart, sometimes screaming into an abyss, reminding myself and anyone who’s inclined to listen that we need to remember to be responsible for the lives of others.”
Clash is able to premiere new cut 'Dionysus', and it opens in soft, introspective realms. Ed's voice floats over the subtle arrangement, the sparsity of tone and colour seeming to make his message distinct. But then a distortion switch is flicked on, and 'Dionysus' becomes a gnarled monster, a biting, ambitious epic, a literate hymn for confused times.
Check it out now.
'Furnaces' will be released this summer. Catch Ed Harcourt at the following shows:
June
29 Manchester The Deaf Institute
30 London The Borderline
July
3 London Hyde w/ Carole King
24 Deer Shed Festival
