Dark artistic songs, sung in classic stylings that only a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds can do. Beautiful stuff, fits in with a mopey indie pop set as well as a dark heavy doom set (ahh the brilliance of those Aussies). Harvey is a true stalwart, visionary of what became the “alt” country, mopey slow-core 4AD sound of the 80’s, having been a co-founder of The Birthday Party and Crime and the City Solution. Indeed, The Birthday Party was one of 4AD’s flagship bands and truly broke ground in the mixing up of dark punk/goth/western/swing/blues genre. Harvey is sounding dark and classic here, performing covers dear to him as well as some originals (Lee Hazelwood, Hank Williams, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Tim Buckley included). Recorded in his home studio “it was something I was doing to entertain myself, there was no master plan”, this is dark beautiful stuff. For fans of Tindersticks, Beasts of Bourbon, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Wim Wenders, This Mortal Coil.

1) slow pretty piano ballad, build up of strings and guitar, no drums, a Lee Hazelwood song
2) pretty lilting feel w/ synth/keys and a Bad Seeds feel for sure
3) Hammond organ and minor key, a pretty dark ballad
4) upbeat strummy feel (in comparison)
5) “demon alcohol” dark ode to liquor, with distant dark guitars and hammond
6) storytelling ballad feel, upbeat and lush with drums, full band
7) pretty feel, dark though, melodies reminiscent of Croce (of all things!?)
8) folksy acoustic guitar ballad
9) upbeat alt.country feel, nice Hank Williams cover
10) solo vocal with undercurrent, gospel feel
11) wow, this is THE shit: a great Gun Club song, twangy guitar and Hammond rich, really interprets and highlights the brilliance of Mr Pierce
12) no more beautiful song has ever been written: “surrender to the one you love”, with simple guitar and string accompaniment, perfect for a valentines day gift