Mick Harvey – Delirium Tremens – Album Review

Released on 24 June 2016

Mick Harvey occupies an interesting position in the music world. Hugely revered by those that make music, but largely unknown by the general public. He was a member of the Bad Seeds for several albums. He is also known for his work with PJ Harvey and has acted as a co-producer on a number of her recent albums including Let England Shake. This is his eight solo album, if we chose to ignore the multitude of soundtrack work he has done (including Chopper in 2000). At 57 Harvey will probably never make the jump to mainstream stardom, but that obviously does not detract from the quality of the work.

This is actually Harvey’s third volume of Serge Gainsbourg covers (translated into English) but there has been a substantial gap between this and the other two; Intoxicated Man (1995) and Pink Elephants (1997). The reason why some of these tracks were left to the third volume is explained below by the man himself.

“Many of the songs I have recorded are ones I had hoped to translate the first time I approached this material but I just thought they would be ones that were too hard to translate. But once I sunk my teeth into the task I found they were no more problematic than most of the songs from the first two albums.” says Harvey. “The whole project has just been enormous fun to be honest.”

The Man With The Cabbage Head (L’homme à Tête De Chou) features spoken vocals along with far reaching guitars and keyboards, sounding quite epic against the slight vocal track. Coffee Colour is an upbeat track with Harvey lilting along with interesting percussion and a variety of unusual instruments. The Convict’s Song is a driven guitar track that pounds along like the open road, and could easily be a single for the album. Don’t Say A Thing is another one with a touch of drama, with strings working their magic in the background, before it all breaks away and the vocals of Xanthe Waite enter the mix. This track is probably the highlight of the album. Another impressive collection of well loved cover versions by Harvey that show the scope and scale he is capable of.

Track List – 
The Man With The Cabbage Head (L’homme à Tête De Chou)
Deadly Tedium (Ce Mortel Ennui)
Coffee Colour (Couleur Cafe)
The Convict’s Song (Chanson de Forçat)
SS C’est Bon (Est-ce Est-ce Si Bon)
I Envisage (J’envisage)
A Day Like Any Other (Un Jour Comme Un Autre)
A Violent Poison (That’s What Love Is) (Un Poison Violent C’est Ça L’amour)
More and More, Less and Less (De Plus en Plus De Moins en Moins)
Don’t Say A Thing (Ne Dis Rien)
Boomerang (Boomerang)
The Decadance (La Décadanse)

Don’t Say A Thing (Ne Dis Rien) feat. Xanthe Waite