Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released six studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize. Since 2007 he has been writing for other artists, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Paloma Faith, and has performed with Marianne Faithfull and the Libertines. His music is influenced by Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Jeff Buckley, among others. Career Harcourt was born Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith on 14 August 1977, in Wimbledon, London, England.[1] The youngest of three, Harcourt is the son of Maj. Charles Harcourt-Smith of the Life Guards and also a former diplomat, and his wife Sabrina, an art historian. Ed began to study piano at the age of nine and achieved grade 8 when he was 17. He declined the offer to study music, citing "the idea of having to analyze, dissect and everything [of one piece of music] would completely destroy any enjoyment". Before going solo, Harcourt played the bass and keyboards for Snug, a band formed at school in the mid-1990s by Harcourt, James Deane, Ed Groves and Johnny Lewsley. The band recorded two albums and a handful of singles together before dissolving. In 2000, Harcourt recorded his debut mini-album Maplewood EP straight to a 4-track recorder at Wootton Manor. After signing with Heavenly Records and releasing Maplewood in November 2000, Harcourt recorded his debut studio album Here Be Monsters with producers Gil Norton and Tim Holmes. The album was released in June 2001, and charted on the UK Albums Chart at No. 84. One month after its release, the album was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize. He later described the period as "very strange for me, I was naive, I knew nothing. I was used to making music in my room, so it felt very odd being on stage". In the US he signed with Capitol Records. Following the non-album single release of the Brian Wilson cover "Still I Dream of It" in October 2002, Harcourt recorded and released his second album From Every Sphere in February 2003. The album became his highest-charting release in the UK, peaking at No. 39. The album also performed moderately well across Europe, peaking at No. 6 in Sweden, No. 25 in Norway, and No. 103 in France. From Every Sphere also yielded his highest-charting single to date, "All