After years of notoriety in his native United Kingdom, our boy Ed Harcourt is finally making his name stateside. Following the US release of his album The Beautiful Lie (available now on Dovecote Records), and a stint on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Harcourt has signed on to write and record the score to the upcoming, and long-anticipated, sequel to Donnie Darko.

I tagged along with Ed for a bit at South By Southwest and caught him doing something his parents would not approve of. Check it:

From the Ink Tank Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2008 - The ever prolific British singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt is about to add film scoring to his repertoire, as he’s signed on for “S. Darko,” the supernatural sequel to the cult favorite film, “Donnie Darko.” Set in 1995, seven years after the original, Donnie Darko’s younger sister Samantha is the focus as she deals with her brother’s death and finds herself caught in the midst of a meteorite crash. The movie, which began shooting in May, is slated for a 2009 release and directed by Chris Fisher (”Nightstalker,” “Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders”). “I read the script and loved it, so I jumped at the opportunity,” exclaims Harcourt. “I’m really looking forward to experimenting and getting to do whatever I want. I have tons of ideas. This is all I’m thinking about - Darko on the brain.”

While Harcourt has returned to the states for another round of touring in support of the U.S. release of his acclaimed album, The Beautiful Lie, [June 3, Dovecote Records] he maintains he will be hard at work composing while on the road. “I’m coming up with ideas all the time,” he explains. “My goal is to compose something every day.” Venturing outside of the world of conventional songs, Harcourt says his references and inspirations run the gamut from “weird electronic music like Autechre and Aphex Twin to Clint Mansell’s score for “Requiem for a Dream,” to “Phillip Glass and Arvo Part.” “I plan for this to be sort of a merging of organic, acoustic instruments, like chamber strings and such with heavy atmospherics and drone,” he explains. “It will be surreal and psychedelic just like the movie. Greg Dulli recently turned me on to The Disintegration Loops I-IV of William Basinski, so that’s a big influence right now.”

(more…)

I can’t believe he hasn’t played on American Television before. UK heartthrob Ed Harcourt will be on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show this evening to promote his new album (well, that is to say his 2006 album that never got released in the States) The Beautiful Lie, which came out on Dovecote Records last Tuesday. Listening to The Beautiful Lie (and his back catalogue as well) it baffles me why he isn’t as huge in North America as he is in Europe. Last March during SXSW I ended up tagging along and filming Ed and his wife Gita as he got a sweet tattoo of one of his first songs, “Sing For My Supper” on his arm in Austin, TX. Enjoy our lil’ mini doc:

ED HARCOURT TO MAKE U.S. TELEVISION DEBUT ON THE TONIGHT SHOW JUNE 6, WEEK OF ‘THE BEAUTIFUL LIE’ RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2008 - Not long since wreaking havoc on Austin, Texas during SXSW, the illustrious Ed Harcourt will return to the States from his native England to perform on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Friday, June 6. Timed perfectly with the release of his fourth full-length album, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE, due June 3 on Dovecote Records, Harcourt will celebrate the arrival of this much-awaited LP with a national television debut.

The Mercury Prize-nominated Harcourt has been keeping extraordinarily busy on tour with the Gutter Twins overseas, where he has been joining Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan and co. on stage following his own opening set. “Ed Harcourt’s songs are as close to cabaret tunes and 1960s pop as they are to current rock,” recently noted the NEW YORK TIMES while UNDER THE RADAR hailed ‘The Beautiful Lie’ as “his best work to date.” The WALL STREET JOURNAL was on hand for one of his acclaimed Austin performances, calling Harcourt, “a gifted songwriter in the mold of Karl Wallinger and XTC’s Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding” adding, “and thus a descendant of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.”

Lead radio single, “Revolution in the Heart,” mimics Harcourt’s larger-than-life personality, brimming with his exquisite piano playing, booming delivery, thunderous rhythms and bursting backup vocals, compliments of The Magic Numbers. The track is currently going for adds at radio, already receiving early support across the country from stations like Starbucks XM Café, KBAC and others.

This visit is a precursor to additional U.S. tour dates this summer, to be announced soon.

When I met up with Ed Harcourt during SXSW 08, we had a sweet interview on the roof of the Hilton Hotel. That was a cool experience, Ed was down. His music isn’t as well known in the States as it is in the UK, and hopefully that’s something that will change when he releases “The Beautiful Lie” on June 3rd. Here, check the interview:

However, when I went to film a live song the next day, it turned into a rad adventure with Ed performing a song exclusively for us in a back alley, and then getting tattoos (I almost got one, but decided not to in order for my Grandma to keep speaking to me). Then I drank port wine with them during dinner. We’ll have a video of that up eventually, but until then, check his MySpace and dig on that beautiful pop music.