Harvey’s career is often overshadowed by his association with Nick Cave which lasted from Cave’s early days in the Boys Next Door to the Birthday Party and then the Bad Seeds up and including until Dig Lazarus Dig. He also among many other things, produced and played on Anita Lane’s solo records and was a member of Crime and the City Solution during their 80s heyday.
He played on and co-produced PJ Harvey (no relation) on 2000s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and again on 2011’s Let England Shake. (He appears on four songs on 2016s Hope Six Demoliton Project).
Harvey has as a solo artist recorded four songs of Serge Gainsbourg covers (the first two released in 1995 and 1997 and the second two in 2016 and 2017). These albums are fantastic.
In 2018, Harvey teamed with Christopher Richard Barker, a British singer/songwriter who also writes supernatural fiction they created an album about Edgar Bourchier- a fictional World War 1 soldier and poet. It’s the kind of concept that normally either works or doesn’t, but I think it’s a strong album.
Then in 2023, Harvey paired with Mexican singer/filmmaker Amanda Acevedo for her musical debut. The pairing recorded an incredible album called Phantasmagoria in Blue.
Which if these are all excluded (including film soundtrack and score work) puts at Mick Harvey at solo album # 5 (2024s Five Ways to Say Goodbye is then the first since 2013s Four (Acts of Love)) even if he hasn’t truly been idle.
Although Harvey has written some great lyrics, these affairs are cover heavy. Mick’s formula seems to pick songs by some great and varied songwriters- Cave, PJ Harvey, Van Morrison, Guy Clark, Tim Buckley, Lee Hazlewood, the Saints and Emmylou Harris.
That doesn’t change here. There’s a version of the much covered Neil Young’s “Like A Hurricane”. It’s a worthwhile addition though.
One of the best moments is a cover of Marlene Dietrich’s “A Suitcase in Berlin” which given Harvey’s history is a perfect combination.
Otherwise, the choices tend to be homage to great Australian acts- the Saints, Ed Kuepper, the late Triffids leader David McComb, indie rocker Lo Carmen and Bruno Adams led goth country peers Fatal Shore.
“Demolition” from deep in the former Saints guitarist Kuepper’s catalog (found on his 2009 album “Outtakes and Rarities”) is another highlight.
Original composition “When We Were Beautiful and Young” sits comfortably with the rest of the album’s vibe.
It’s a tribute to Harvey’s ear that all of these elements blend together so perfectly into one work.
Australian gothic country is so overshadowed by Nick Cave- the most critically and commercially successful artist of the genre, in a way the Beatles or Cheap Trick loom over power pop, or the Big Fours own their respective genres of Metal and Grunge Rock. Even more so for Harvey who has been so closely associated with Cave.
Still, new listeners shouldn’t worry about that. He has created his own sound and is one of the best to do it.
