Mick Harvey
Four (Acts of Love)
Mute
Street: 04.29
Mick Harvey = Crime and the City Solution – Barry Adamson
Not the fourth album, but continuing in the vein of naming by numbers, Mick Harvey’s (Crime and the City Solution, The Birthday Party) latest work is 14 tracks dedicated to that most human of emotions: love. Coming just months after a Bad Seeds release (the first to NOT include Harvey’s brilliant contributions) and a new Crime album, it’s like Christmas for followers of the Australian collection of artists! Harvey includes the aptly named “Glorious,” a track originally penned by PJ Harvey, and covers of Roy Orbison and Van Morrison tracks, but my favorite here is the beautifully gothic Americana track, “Midnight on the Ramparts.” Everything Harvey touches turns into a kind of darkly sweet and sticky gold, and this album is no exception—at once departing from previous releases yet perfectly living up to the promises they made. –Madelyn Boudreaux