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Album Details

• Artist: Ed Harcourt
• Album: Strangers
• Label: EMI/Astralwerks
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2005-03-02

Mr. Harcourt has seen a lot of action since his debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the coveted Mercury Prize. Strangers is the latest in the Harcourt solo albums and it is a fine pop singer/songwriter album, quite similar to his Monsters album although building on it. Strangers is one of those albums that gets warmer with every listen. I was never really a fan before but Strangers seems to have a charm to it that takes a few listens to uncover. He can be a little flamboyant in the vein of Rufus Wainwright but after you get over it there is such a charm to the way Harcourt delivers his music. He is a multi-instrumentalist as well as composer. There have always been a few comparisons between Ed and Jeff Buckley. It's songs like the vocally amazing "Open Book" that make these comparisons ring out. Their is a lot of emotions on this album. He seems like there is a lot of romantic idealisms going on with Strangers, including liner notes saying that this album is for "my foxy lady". One of my favorite tracks is the gentle "The Trapdoor". It has this beautiful acoustic guitar accompanying Ed along with some really impressive electric guitar lines adding to the depth of the song. He even takes a crack at a lo-fi style recording on "Something To Live For". It ends up having mixed results. Either go all the way or take it back to nothing. Strangers is a great album that should appeal to many. There is the odd glitch but overall Harcourt proves to be an awesome and flamboyant singer/songwriter.

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