Consort with hard American group (7)
I believe the answer is:
husband
'consort' is the definition.
(husband is a kind of consort)
'with hard american group' is the wordplay.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'hard' becomes 'h'.
'american' becomes 'us'.
'group' becomes 'band' (band is a kind of group).
'h'+'us' is 'hus'.
'hus'+'band'='HUSBAND'
(Other definitions for husband that I've seen before include "Use economically - partner" , "Spouse - save" , "Use resources economically" , "Better half's other half?" , "Male relative" .)