I suspect I borrowed this album from Deal Library soon after it was nominated for the Mercury Music Award, then some years later saw it for pennies in a charity shop and remembering I'd quite enjoyed it decided to purchase.
This was the debut album from Harcourt, who sadly seems to have disappeared from pop stardom since then. And my feeling on listening again is that it's OK. There's a couple of interesting songs, and a lot of listenable ones of lesser impact. But it's later on in the album, when Harcourt gets more reflective and less poppy that the strength of the songs is apparent.
Something In My Eye is a strong start, a slow opener and a good song, but from there it's all quite ordinary until the catchy Hanging With The Wrong Crowd, a song with an infectious tune with the potential to become an earworm. Beneath The Heart Of Darkness is a longer song, with a gentle opening couple of verses, before some sonic mayhem building to a climax, before a long, pastoral run out, the vocals not returning until the very end, and it's perfectly complemented by the minimalism of Wind Through The Trees, just Harcourt and a sparse piano accompaniment. But these two really are the high spot of the album, with only the upbeat Shanghai of the final tracks, raising much interest.
It's a solid debut, which attracted the interest of the Mercury judges, if not the CD buying public.
3* - Much that's ordinary, but absolutely saved by two lovely songs in the middle of the album.
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