Mick Harvey

Shares A New Track

Mick Harvey has shared a new track, ‘Setting You Free’, the latest to be taken from his first solo album in over 10 years, Five Ways to Say Goodbye – out on Mute on 10 May 2024 ahead of a series of European and UK dates that will include London’s Omeara on 26 May – full details below.

‘Setting You Free’ is Harvey’s interpretation of the late David McComb (The Triffids / Blackeyed Susans)’s track, taken from the singer-songwriter and guitarist’s only solo album, Love of Will, originally released in 1994: https://youtu.be/lmJdeo6Bcnk 

The new track follows original composition, ‘When We Were Beautiful & Young’, and ‘A Suitcase in Berlin’, a translation and reworking of Marlene Dietrich’s 1950s ode to Berlin, ‘Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin’. Both feature on the new album, a mix of originals and interpretations, and the fifth release in a series that blends the two. The new 12-track collection will also tracks written by Ed Kuepper (co-founder of The Saints), Fatal Shore (Bruno Adams), Lo Carmen and Lee Hazelwood. 

Across the album, Harvey creates a coherent mood between other people’s songs and his own, as though they are all part of the same lineage and interconnected sonic world. As such, these re-workings go far beyond functioning as simple cover versions. “I don’t think cover is appropriate terminology,” says Harvey. “It’s not a copy. To my mind it’s more in the traditional of how songs used to be, where they would mutate and you’d end up with lots of different versions. One is really just passing the music on and sharing the songs further.”

“(The album) is kind of about farewells or saying goodbye,” explains Harvey, “There’s a lot around that subject so it’s got a kind of melancholy and sentimentality around it.” The theme is multifaceted: the album may be the closing chapter on a five-part series of albums that began in 2005 with One Man’s Treasure, and continued with Two of Diamonds, Three Sisters – Live At Bush Hall, and Four (Acts of Love). It’s a reflection of time passed and life elapsed, and it’s also a literal goodbye in some instances. “A lot of the songs are by people who have moved on,” says Harvey.

There are few artists as endlessly versatile as Mick Harvey. From his powerhouse, role-shifting, contributions in the ferocious The Birthday Party, to being a central driving force in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, via crucial contributions in bands like Crime and the City Solution, Harvey leaves subtle yet indelible fingerprints on every project he touches. This, alongside his countless soundtracks – including ‘Ghosts… of the Civil Dead’ (Dir. John Hillcoat, 1988), ‘Chopper’ (Dir. Andrew Dominik, 2000), and the award-winning soundtracks for ‘Australian Rules’ (Dir. Paul Goldman, 2002) and ‘Suburban Mayhem’ (Dir. Paul Goldman, 2006) – as well as his numerous collaborations and roles as a producer and/or arranger for the likes of PJ Harvey, Anita Lane, Rowland S. Howard and Robert Forster, have given Harvey an unusually prolific and eclectic career.

The new album follows Harvey’s recent collaboration with Mexican artist Amanda Acevedo, who features on Five Ways to Say Goodbye, and will be accompanied by a UK and European tour dates in May and June – full details below.

Mick Harvey’s Five Ways to Say Goodbye is out on vinyl, CD and digitally on 10 May 2024: https://mute.ffm.to/mickharvey-fwtsg 

FIVE WAYS TO SAY GOODBYE TRACKLISTING

Heaven’s Gate

We Had an Island

Demolition

The Art of Darkness

Setting You Free

Alone with the Stars

Nashville High

Ghost Ships

Dirtnap Stories – featuring Amanda Acevedo

When We Were Beautiful & Young

A Suitcase in Berlin

Like a Hurricane

MICK HARVEY TOUR

16 May – Valencia (ES), 16 Toneladas

17 May – Barcelona (ES), Sidecar

18 May – Madrid (ES), Sala el Sol

26 May – London (UK), Omeara

29 May – Coimbra (PT), Nereida Fest (free concert)

31 May – Leiria (PT), Teatro José Lúcio Da Silva

1 June – Espinho (PT), Auditório de Espinho – SOLD OUT

2 June – Espinho (PT), Auditório de Espinho

7 June – Milan (IT), Arci Bellezza

8 June – Brno (CZ), Mersey Gathering 

Latest ticket links can be found HERE