Mick Harvey

Performs the songs of Serge Gainsbourg in Europe in May/June + Listen to ‘Chatterton’

UNCUT 7/10 – “these records sound confident and casually eloquent”

RECORD COLLECTOR 4/5 – “the translations are masterful”

THE QUIETUS “the question is, “est-il bon?” The answer? “Absolument.”

Mick Harvey will perform the songs of Serge Gainbourg live, starting this month at London’s Union Chapel on 27 May and Bristol’s Colston Hall on 28 May before an appearance at Primavera Sound on 30 May and Tilburg’s Theatre on 14 June.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to see Mick Harvey and band perform these incredible interpretations of legendary singer, songwriter and poet Serge Gainsbourg’s oeuvre – the only previous dates were at the invitation of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at a recent ATP festival and there are no plans to tour in the future so this is very likely the only chance to see Harvey perform these songs live.

The deluxe double CD collection of Harvey’s two Serge Gainsbourg albums, Intoxicated Man (1995) and Pink Elephants (1997), is out now on Mute with the vinyl reissue following on 23 June. These are the first major works translating Gainsbourg’s infuential work from French to English and include two unreleased tracks, Dr Jeckyll and Run From Happiness.

Listen to Chatterton here:

Watch the Don Lett’s short film here:

Originally Harvey embarked on the project as a result of his own curiousity about the songs and particularly the lyrics. At the time of the original recordings Gainsbourg was little known outside classic works such as Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus (I Love You… Nor Do I) and Bonnie & Clyde. On this collection these classic works are presented alongside dozens of Gainsbourg’s lesser known yet equally intriguing and unusual compositions.

The vocal parts originally sung by Gainsbourg’s muses Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot and Anna Karina are here sung by long time collaborator Anita Lane – other guests on the albums include Bertrand Burgalat, Warren Ellis, Nick Cave and David McClymont.

Mick Harvey explains, “Translating a great writer is like walking through a minefield and I set myself the difficult task of attempting to keep the places of rhyming, metre and meaning accurate to the originals. One or more of these elements is usually dispensed with in the translating of poetry and lyrics, but I did not want to iron out any of Gainbourg’s more aberrant angles or lose any of his especially perverse and peculiar touches.”

The double CD collection is out now and available here: Double CD / iTunes / Google Play

LIVE DATES

27 May, London Union Chapel – tickets: http://bit.ly/1fXtqYQ

28 May, Bristol The Lantern Colston Hall – tickets: http://www.colstonhall.org/shows/mick-harvey/

30 May, Barcelona Primavera Sound – tickets: http://www.primaverasound.com

14 June, Tilburg Theatres Tilburg – tickets: www.theaterstilburg.nl

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