August 26th, 2005
Mick Harvey - One Man’s Treasure
MICK HARVEY
One Man’s Treasure
Mute
****
As a Bad Seeds co-founder, people assume Mick Harvey has been lurking in Nick Cave’s shadow for years. In fact he’s been in other bands (Crime and the City Solution), produced PJ Harvey and scored several film soundtracks, including the excellent Chopper. With such a diverse musical CV, it’s surprising that One Man’s Treasure is his first solo album. Harvey steers towards folk-country and its holy trinity - love, loss and booze. ‘Bethelridge’ is a rueful requiem that contrasts with the proverbial humour of ‘Hank Williams Said It Best’ and ‘Will You Surrender?’ is countrified heartbreak at its finest. The sonorous ‘Demon Alcohol’ is as near to Cave karaoke as it gets, but Harvey manages to sidestep his Bad Seeds persona with what’s hopefully the first of many solo albums.
Website: http://www.mute.com
This review originally appeared here in The Ticket, The Irish Times on Friday, August 26th, 2005