Regal and powerful indie hymns with a thrilling dark edge. Ed Harcourt spent his first six albums quietly becoming one of Britain’s very best songwriters. His seventh has little interest in doing anything quietly. A foreboding beast, it’s somehow also the most euphoric record of his career. “Occupational Hazzard” almost hisses with menace, “You Give Me More Than Love” has a funereal, waltzing beauty, while the cacophonous “Immoral” sounds like ring music for the devil.
- 2024