Ed Harcourt is not like other British singer-songwriters. He doesn’t sit easy on the ear, content to rhyme, nor use obvious similes around which to centre his songs. Instead, he’s an artist who is imaginative, intuitive and – horror of all horrors – different.

His aesthetic, if not his music, thus places him alongside artists like Tom Waits and Neil Young – singer-songwriters who do things very much by their own rules. His debut Here By Monsters was greeted with much acclaim, but since then Harcourt has gone on wild tangents, from the outlandish follow-up From Every Sphere to the strong Strangers from two years ago. The Beautiful Lie continues along this path, from the blissful pop of “Visit From the Dead Dog” to the bitter “I Am the Drug”.

At his melancholy best, as on “You Only Call Me When You’re Drunk”, Ed Harcourt builds from a simple piano motif to include strings, before it all goes wild in the last minute, as horns and other noises cut loose as he repeats the song name over and over. With his fantastic voice, there’s real warmth to Harcourt’s songs, from the stripped back likes of “Late Night Partner” or “The Pristine Claw” through to wilder numbers like “Revolution in the Heart”.

There’s nothing remotely fashionable about The Beautiful Lie. Indeed, part of what makes Harcourt so striking is that he simply doesn’t do anything quite like anyone else; nor does he sound like anyone else. As an artist, he’s now released four albums of genuine strength and depth, which should be applauded loudly and proudly.