Ed Harcourt
This One's For You

The history of rock ‘n roll is peppered with the tale of the bar room blues. Pretty much every solo artist of repute in the last fifty years has produced at least one drinking song: others, like Ryan Adams and Johnny Cash have more than we could possibly remember. Hell, even David Bowie covered Jim Morrison’s ‘Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)’ – actually one of the worst pieces of music ever put to tape.

So, following in the footsteps of others as he seems wont and destined to do, Ed Harcourt has produced this lovely, rolling, gin-soaked ballad. “My oh my oh my I’ve had a few / my oh my oh my this one’s for you”, he croons, in a drunken lament to that someone special. Horns parp dolefully, guitars tingle tremulously and a piano thumps in a manner that lifts the song up from merely being a self-indulgent lament.

It’s a warming pre-cursor to his forthcoming album, and proof that maybe, just maybe, he might just yet emerge from the shadows of the greats and step up amongst them.