Mick Harvey

Shares New Track

Mick Harvey has shared a new track from his first solo album in over 10 years, Five Ways to Say Goodbye – out on Mute on 10 May 2024.

The new track is Harvey’s interpretation of Bruno Adams (Fatal Shores)’s ‘We Had an Island’. Listen to a beautiful vocal performance from Harvey, as strings gently dance around his subtle guitar here:

Across the album, the theme of saying goodbye is multifaceted. The album is a reflection of time passed and life elapsed, and a literal goodbye in some instances. “A lot of the songs are by people who have moved on,” says Harvey. “So that does come up.” ‘We Had an Island’ is one such example of a track – originally written by Bruno Adams (1963-2009), Harvey shines a light on one of “underground music’s best kept secrets”.

The track follows original composition, ‘When We Were Beautiful & Young’, plus ‘Setting You Free’ by the late David McComb (The Triffids / Blackeyed Susans), and ‘A Suitcase in Berlin’, a translation and reworking of Marlene Dietrich’s 1950s ode to Berlin, ‘Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin’ which all 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), Loene Carmen and Lee Hazelwood. 

The new album sees Harvey create 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. “What I am doing is not, for the most part, a copy of the original. 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.”

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 join him for 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

1. Heaven’s Gate
2. We Had an Island
3. Demolition
4. The Art of Darkness
5. Setting You Free
6. Alone with the Stars
7. Nashville High
8. Ghost Ships
9. Dirtnap Stories – featuring Amanda Acevedo
10. When We Were Beautiful & Young
11. A Suitcase in Berlin
12. Like a Hurricane

MICK HARVEY TOUR

• 14 May – Antwerp (BE), Legendarische Dinsdag Club – short cabaret set
• 16 May – Valencia (ES), 16 Toneladas
• 17 May – Barcelona (ES), Sidecar
• 18 May – Madrid (ES), Sala el Sol
• 19 May – Zaragoza (ES), Bombo Y Platillo
• 23 May – Stockholm (SE), Bar Brooklyn
• 24 May – Copenhagen (DE), Loppen
• 25 May – Paris (FR), Petit Bains
• 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 
• 11 June – Florence (IT), Scandicci Nazionale Park
• 12 June – Fano (IT), Bagni Elsa 
• 13 June – Bologna (IT), Frida Parco 
• 14 June – Pula (HR), Rojc Community Centre

Latest ticket links can be found HERE