Ed Harcourt Best: Until Tomorrow Then CD

This greatest-hits package brings together work from Ed Harcourt's first five albums, making it an excellent place for the uninitiated to sample the artist's sharp popcraft. Harcourt mixes Britpop, indie rock, chamber pop, balladry, and 1960s-era rock with a singer-songwriter sensibility.

UNTIL TOMORROW THEN offers a tasty selection of Harcourt's styles, all of which work together surprisingly well. Even while his singing and multi-instrumental performances impress, it's his songwriting that stands out here (check out "Black Dress" or the gritty, stirring "Apple of My Eye"). The arrangements, which brim over with carefully placed baroque-pop touches, are nothing to shake a stick at, either.

2007 collection from this excellent British singer/songwriter features two new tracks. The Best Of Ed Harcourt, Until Tomorrow Then, compiles tracks from all five of his studio albums, from the scratchy, piano-and-empty-bottle etude of 'Apple Of My Eye' taken from 2000's debut mini-album Maplewood to the insanely catchy baroque-pop of 'Visit From The Dead Dog' from his most recently acclaimed release, 2006's The Beautiful Lie. Along the way the collection takes in the witty playfulness of 'Shanghai' (from 2001's Mercury Prize shortlisted Here Be Monsters), the aching lyricism of 'Fireflies Take Flight' (from 2003's From Every Sphere) and the euphoric surge of 'Born In The '70s' (from 2004's Strangers), plus nine other Harcourt classics. Heavenly.