Ed Harcourt announces first instrumental album with heartfelt piano piece "Duet For Ghosts"

"Duet For Ghosts" is the first of the piano-led instrumental to be revealed from Ed Harcourt's forthcoming record.

Written and recorded at his ‘Wolf Cabin’ studio in Oxfordshire, Beyond The End will follow on from Harcourt's 2016 Furnaces album.

Speaking about the album, Harcourt explains, "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.”

He adds, “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…”

Tracklist:

1. Diving Bell
2. Wolves Change Rivers
3. Duet For Ghosts
4. Empress Of The Lake
5. Keep Us Safe
6. Faded Photographs
7. For My Father
8. For My Mother
9. Beneath The Brine
10. There Is Still A Fire
11. Circling Red Kites
12. Whiskey Held My Sleep To Ransom