(Piano Wolf)

www.edharcourt.com

Ed Harcourt sets the tone here with a breathtaking chamber-pop ballad that finds him extolling the virtues of the lustre that comes "from the ruby-red blood on my hands when I've pulled out all the thorns," the lustre "when your house burns down" and the lustre "when the love in your life has gone and all your checks have bounced." And while he clearly meant that part about the checks you've bounced to bring at least a little smile, "Lustre" does sum up the essence of his finest hours, bringing lustre to the darkest depths of the human condition.

There's a bummed-out sense of majesty to the achingly beautiful "Killed By the Morning Sun," an organ-fueled lament that starts with a gravelly sigh of "Pleaassse let your tears roll down the drain." On "Church of No Religion," he shrugs off the need for "an angel to keep me in line" while dispensing with one of his more angelic melodies. And when he does fall in love on the hopelessly romantic "Haywired," his bliss is couched in feelings of self-doubt and wonder, with a beautiful, Wilco-does-Todd Rundgren chorus of "Oh please don't break me from this spell. I found a little heaven in this world of hell."

Standout Track: "Haywired" A. WATT