100 Years On: A Quick Review Of The New Soundtrack Album From Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)

The new Mick Harvey album is a soundtrack. Part of this is the score to the film Why ANZAC? with Sam Neill, a 2015 work from director Kriv Stenders (who did that awesome Go-Betweens documentary recently, by the way), and a portion of this release is another WWI-themed collaboration between Harvey and The Letter String Quartet. Waves of Anzac/The Journey is out today via Mute.

While Mick Harvey is a man of many talents, this is reportedly his first soundtrack release in 10 years. And even if portions hit a note or two that strikes a chord for long-time fans, so much of this is more elegiac than other Harvey recent releases that it's sort of a pleasnt, if somber surprise. The title track here, "Waves of Anzac" unfurls on a hook that's in debt (perhaps) to work by Philip Glass, while "In the Archives" and "Modern War" blend washes of keyboards to great effect. The cuts sound modern in a way that contrasts with the archival subject matter of the film, while drawing a point that some issues of war continue to this day. "100 Years" lingers with a sense of sadness, as does "The Somme", necessarily.

While all of the cuts of the soundtrack itself are engaging, the four parts of "The Journey" at the end of the record are the best, most affecting pieces here. Slashing strings and melodic crests and waves abound. The release works on its own, with the seriousness of the subject matter reflected in the overall vibe and mood here. The effect is one that moves a listener even if a listener isn't aware of all the details of the film that goes with this piece of work.

Waves of Anzac/The Journey is out today via Mute.

More details on Mick Harvey via the official website.

[Photo: Alexander Hallg]