After effectively hopscotching from label to label – four in approximately the past ten years – Ed Harcourt seems to have found a comfortable home with Dovecote, a company that presumably grants him the ability to follow his creative whims without regard to commercial consequences. Still, Russian Roulette doesn’t divert all that much from his usual template, a reliable mix of stirring, angst-ridden ballads and soaring anthemic outpours that capture the heart while seizing on more cerebral possibilities. Being more of a modest affair – six songs recorded rather quickly as in deference to the original demos – it also serves as a stopgap prior to the unveiling of his next full-length opus, due sometime next year. Regardless, its certain to satiate fans unable to wait that long, courtesy of such enticing offerings as the title track – an opening volley of over-arched emotion – and “Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk,” a song which, despite its curious title, proves both elusive and alluring. However, the EP’s true highlight emerges in the form of “Caterpillar,” a purposeful and effusive number written about his newborn daughter that also ranks among the most stirring songs he’s ever written. Dovecote
