Deer Shed Festival's Ed Harcourt announces album

ED Harcourt, who is one of the performers at this year's Deer Shed Festival at Thirsk, on July 24, has announced the release of a new album called Furnaces on August 19.

Recently signed to Polydor, Harcourt feels his seventh album is his most ambitious and abrasive album of his career.

Two tracks, Dionysus and The World is on Fire are available now. The project was produced by Flood, a long-time ally of Ed, who has previously worked with the likes of Nick Caveand The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey and Foals.

“I don’t think there are many records out like that at the moment, but all my favourite records have that, whether it’s Prince or Nine Inch Nails. I hadn’t made a record before that has this kind of danger to it,” says Harcourt.

Throughout the album he plays guitar, bass, drums, piano, synths and assortment of other trinkets. Drummer Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, bassist Tom Herbert of The Invisible and Polar Bear, vocalist Hannah Lou Clark, and percussionist Michael Blair, a frequent Tom Waits collaborator, also contribute.

Harcourt recently played piano at major festivals with the Libertines, toured as part of Marianne Faithfull's band and served as musical director for Beck’s Songbook shows at the Barbican.

He has released six critically-acclaimed albums to date, and wrote and performed The Way That I Live, the soundtrack to Burberry’s 2014/15 festive campaign, which has garnered 25 million views and 1 million streams.

Box Office: deershedfestival.com

Viv Hardwick