Mick Harvey has announced details of his first solo album in over a decade, Five Ways to Say Goodbye, the finale in a series of releases that feature a blend of originals and interpretations of pre-existing songs. Due out via Mute on May 10, 2024, the album will include original compositions alongside tracks written by artists as varied as Ed Kuepper (co-founder of The Saints), Fatal Shore (Phil Shoenfelt and Bruno Adams), David McComb (The Triffids / Blackeyed Susans), Lo Carmen and Lee Hazelwood. 

Listen to “When We Were Beautiful & Young,” Harvey’s tender, reflective and deeply poignant exploration of youth, and watch its accompanying video, a journey through highlights of a career that began nearly 50 years ago in Melbourne.

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 reworkings 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 sense 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 features “A Suitcase in Berlin,” originally released in early 2023 with artwork that nods to the new album, a translation and reworking of Marlene Dietrich’s 1950s ode to Berlin, “Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin.” Harvey’s updated take on the song, first written in 1922, brings a sadness and weight to the subject that is appropriate to the passage of time and the weight of history which hangs over the city. 

“(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, and the album may be the closing chapter on a five-part series of albums that began in 2005 with One Man’s Treasure, continuing on 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 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. Additionally, he has done countless soundtrack work 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). 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, bolstering further his unusually prolific and eclectic career.

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. Full details below.

MICK HARVEY TOUR DATES:

5/16/2024 – Valencia (ES), 16 Toneladas
5/17/2024 – Barcelona (ES), Sidecar
5/18/2024 – Madrid (ES), Sala el Sol
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
6/1/2024 – Espinho (PT), Auditório de Espinho
6/7/2024 – Milan (IT), Arci Bellezza 
6/8/2024 – Brno (CZ), Mersey Gathering 

More dates to be added, latest ticket links can be found HERE