Search - ed Harcourt :: From Every Sphere

The biggest problem with being a prodigy is that, eventually, your talent stops being mentioned in relationship to your tender age, and your work is judged purely against that of your peers. Or, in the case of prolific young romantic like Ed Harcourt, that of the masters you seek to emulate. By the time he was 23, he'd already earned a prestigious Mercury Prize nomination for his major-label debut, Here Be Monsters, and a reputation for writing songs faster than Ryan Adams (over 300 and counting at the time). Released three years after this initial adulatory wave, From Every Sphere opens with a gorgeous slice of orchestral pop called "Bittersweet Heart." It would work well in a set by Rufus Wainwright or Badly Drawn Boy , but in melody and attitude it doesn't add anything new to a sound Brian Wilson pioneered close to 40 years ago. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but hardly the stuff of musical revolutions. And that's both the charm and limitation of From Every Sphere's 12 songs: They're all pretty good, but you could easily imagine them being done by someone else, whether it's Turin Brakes, Eric Matthews, or High Llamas. From Every Sphere is tasteful and even rewarding at times; it just doesn't expand much on Harcourt's promise. --Keith Moerer