Ed Harcourt - 'You Put A Spell On Me'

“‘I only write songs when I’m sad,” utters Sussex-born Ed Harcourt. Given that the melancholy crooner has just finished his sixth album in seven years, you’ve got to fear for his mental health. 'You Put A Spell On Me' is everything you’d expect from a middle England’s favourite misery guts: swooping piano lines, dithering percussion and Harcourt softly repeating the song’s title, as if trying to ease his pain. Competent, albeit it utterly miserable, stuff. With this release spearheading next month’s ‘best of’ album, Harcourt might just have a reason to smile.

Released 01/10/07 on EMI.