[Cover photo credit to Matthew Ellery]
Mick Harvey has shared a new track from his first solo album in over 10 years, Five Ways to Say Goodbye, that is due out on Mute on May 10, 2024. The new track is Harvey’s interpretation of Bruno Adams of Fatal Shores’s “We Had an Island”.
Across the album, the theme of “saying goodbye” takes a number of forms. The album is a literal goodbye in some instances.
Harvey says:
A lot of the songs are by people who have moved on, so that does come up.
“We Had an Island” is one such example of a track, originally written by Bruno Adams (1963-2009).
The new album is a mix of originals and interpretations, and the fifth release in a series that blends the two. The new 12-track collection will also feature tracks written by Ed Kuepper (co-founder of The Saints), Loene Carmen and Lee Hazelwood.
These re-workings go far beyond functioning as simple cover versions, as Harvey explains:
I don’t think cover is appropriate terminology. 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.
Mick Harvey made contributions to The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Crime and the City Solution, and more. He also touts numerous collaborations and roles as a Producer and/or arranger for the likes of PJ Harvey, Anita Lane, Rowland S. Howard and Robert Forster.
The new album follows Harvey’s recent collaboration with Mexican artist Amanda Acevedo (who also features on Five Ways to Say Goodbye) and will be accompanied by UK and European tour dates in May and June.
MICK HARVEY TOUR DATES:
5/14/2024 – Antwerp (BE) – Dinsdag Club
5/16/2024 – Valencia (ES), 16 Toneladas
5/17/2024 – Barcelona (ES), Sidecar
5/18/2024 – Madrid (ES), Sala el Sol
5/19/2024 – Zaragoza, (ES) – Bombo Y Platillo
5/23/2024 – Stockholm (SE) – Bar Brooklyn
5/24/2024 – Copenhagen (DE) – Loppen
5/25/2024 – Paris (FR) – Petit Bains
5/26/2024 – London (UK), Omeara
5/29/2024 – Coimbra (PT), Nereida in Jardim de Sereia (free concert)
5/30/2024 – Leiria (PT), Teatro José Lúcio Da Silva
5/31/2024 – Leiria (PT) – Teatro José Lúcio Da Silva
6/1/2024 – Espinho (PT), Auditório de Espinho
6/2/2024 – Espinho (PT) – Auditório de Espinho
6/7/2024 – Milan (IT), Arci Bellezza
6/8/2024 – Brno (CZ), Mersey Gathering
6/11/2024 – Florence (IT) – Scandicci Nazionale Park
6/12/2024 – Fano (IT) – Bagni Elsa
6/13/2024 – Bologna (IT) – Frida Parco
