Here Be Monsters

Here Be Monsters
Studio album by Ed Harcourt
Released	25 June 2001
Recorded	Ridge Farm Studios
Genre	British rock
Length	52:08
Label	Heavenly Records
Producer	Tim Holmes, Gil Norton, Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt chronology
Maplewood EP (2000) Here Be Monsters (2001) From Every Sphere (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
BBC	(very favourable) [2]
Drowned in Sound	9/10) [3]
Hot Press	(9/12) [4]
NME	(8/10) [5]
Pitchfork Media	(4.0/10) [6]
Popmatters	(favourable) [7]
Rolling Stone	(positive) [8]

Here Be Monsters is the debut album by Ed Harcourt, released in 2001. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. Tim Holmes, one-half of British dance music duo Death In Vegas, co-produced the album. The singles "Something in My Eye" and "Apple of My Eye" charted in the UK.^[9] The album reached 84 in the UK album chart.^[10]

Track listing

1. "Something in My Eye" – 3:41
2. "God Protect Your Soul" – 5:27
3. "She Fell into My Arms" – 3:49
4. "Those Crimson Tears" – 5:09
5. "Hanging With the Wrong Crowd" – 3:41
6. "Apple of My Eye" – 4:04
7. "Beneath the Heart of Darkness" – 7:19
8. "Wind Through the Trees" – 6:45
9. "Birds Fly Backwards" – 3:30
10. "Shanghai" – 3:49
11. "Like Only Lovers Can" – 4:54

Personnel

• Ed Harcourt – vocals, piano, pump organ, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Wurlitzer, vibes, saxophone, harmonica, bass, beatbox, backing vocals, sampling, synthesizer, drums, percussion, string arrangement
• Nick Yeatman – drums, percussion, backing vocals, hand clapping, loops
• Hadrian Garrard – trumpet, trombone, percussion, drums, backing vocals, hand clapping, radio static
• Arnulf Lindner – double bass, electric bass, fretless bass, bowed bass, backing vocals
• Leo Abrahams – electric guitar, 12-string guitar, fretless guitar, baritone guitar, omnichord, glockenspiel, mandolin, backing vocals, string arrangement
• Tim Holmes – loops, sequencing, samples
• Dave Fridmann – backing vocals
• Martin Kelly – backing vocals
• Simon Harris – backing vocals
• Chris Scard – hand clapping
• Gil Norton – hand clapping
• Sophie Sirota – viola, string arrangement
• Max Garrard – French horn
• Howard Gott – string arrangement, violin
• Ruth Gottlieb – violin
• Sarah Willson – cello

Singles

In the UK, there were four singles released:

• "Something in My Eye" (11 June 2001); CD, 7" vinyl
  • B-sides: "T Bone Tombstone" / "Here Be Monsters"
• "She Fell Into My Arms" (10 September 2001); CD, 7" vinyl
  • B-sides: "I've Become Misguided" (new version) / "When Americans Come to London"
• "Apple of My Eye" (21 January 2002); CD1, CD2, cassette
  • B-sides: "Alligator Boy" / "Weary and Bleary Eyed" / "Last of the Troubadors" / "Little Silver Bullet" / "Apple of My Eye" (video)
• "Shanghai" (8 April 2002) (This single was canceled and released as a promo single only.)

Critical reception

Q listed Here Be Monsters as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.^[11]

References