Following on from his wonderful 2016 album 'Furnaces', Ed Harcourt has now returned to announce the details of his first ever instrumental album.
The new full-length 'Beyond The End' was recorded at his "Wolf Cabin" in Oxfordshire, is being previewed by the new single 'Duet For Ghosts', and is due to be released on the 23rd November via Point Of Departure.
Speaking about the new record, Harcourt said, "The world that we live in, we’re exhausted by the internet, social media, the sheer barrage of news and vomit being rained down us on a daily basis. You can’t avoid it, and it’s tiring. So this record came from taking a step back – it’s something that’s trying to be beautiful. My hope is that people might choose to swim amongst this music when it all gets too much.”
“I knew I wanted to buy a new piano. Eventually I found this 1910 Hopkinson Baby Grand, which is exactly the same make and era as my grandmother’s piano which I started learning on, and wrote my first three records on. I felt at home again. I needed a break from singing and lyrics so I began writing instrumental music. I grew up listening to and playing Debussy, Satie, Mozart, Grieg, as well as modern composers like Max Richter, Philip Glass, Arvo Part. I also loved Warren Ellis and Nick Cave’s score for The Assassination Of Jesse James…So from around February I’d get up on the cold mornings, have a coffee after the kids had gone to school, then come in here, shut the door, just play…with the snow coming down outside the window. When I found something I thought worked, I’d play it over and over again…”
Have a listen to 'Duet For Ghosts' in the player and see the album's full tracklisting below.
'Beyond The End' Tracklist:
Diving Bell
Wolves Change Rivers
Duet For Ghosts
Empress Of The Lake
Keep Us Safe
Faded Photographs
For My Father
For My Mother
Beneath The Brine
There Is Still A Fire
Circling Red Kites
Whiskey Held My Sleep To Ransom