Four (Acts of Love) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Mick Harvey, released on 11 June 2013 through Mute Records. The album is Harvey's second following his departure from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The tracks make up a song cycle exploring the process of falling in love, bookended by "Praise the Earth (Wheels of Amber and Gold)" and "Praise the Earth (An Ephemeral Play)".[9] The album includes several covers, including The Saints' punk "The Story of Love", P. J. Harvey's "Glorious" – who also duets with Harvey on the track – and Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" off Astral Weeks.

Four (Acts of Love)
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 11, 2013 (2013-06-11)
StudioGrace Lane Studio and Atlantis Sound, Melbourne
GenrePop, Rock
Length33:03
LabelMute
ProducerMick Harvey
Mick Harvey chronology
Sketches from the Book of the Dead
(2011)
Four (Acts of Love)
(2013)
Delirium Tremens
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Clash9/10[3]
Record Collector[4]
Blurt Magazine[5]
Drowned in Sound7/10[6]
MusicOMH[7]
PopMatters6/10[8]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Mick Harvey, except where noted.

Act 1 - Summertime In New York
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Praise the Earth (Wheels of Amber and Gold)"Based on a hymn by Bishop R. Heber2:12
2."Glorious"P. J. Harvey3:27
3."Midnight and the Ramparts" 2:16
4."Summertime in New York"Tony McKay3:15
5."Where There's Smoke (Before)" 1:26
Act 2 - The Story Of Love
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."God Made the Hammer" 2:39
7."I Wish That I Were Stone" 1:34
8."The Way Young Lovers Do"Van Morrison2:48
9."A Drop, An Ocean" 1:14
10."The Story of Love"Ed Kuepper3:35
Act 3 - Wild Hearts Run Out Of Time
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Where There's Smoke (After)" 1:32
12."Wild Hearts"Roy Orbison, Will Jennings3:53
13."Fairy Dust" 1:44
14."Praise the Earth (An Ephemeral Play)" 4:08

Personnel

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  • Mick Harvey – vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, photography
  • J.P. Shilo – electric guitar, violin
  • Rosie Westbrook – double bass
Technical
  • David McCluney – engineer

References

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  1. ^ "Four (Acts of Love) Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  2. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Four (Acts of Love)". Allmusic. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  3. ^ Smith, Mat (May 3, 2013). "Mick Harvey – Four (Acts of Love)". Clashmusic.com. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  4. ^ Staunton, Terry. "Four (Acts of Love)". Recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  5. ^ Toland, Michael. "Mick Harvey – Four (Acts of Love)". Blurt Magazine. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  6. ^ Zevolli, Giuseppe (April 26, 2013). "Album Review". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  7. ^ Saunders, Chris (April 22, 2013). "Four (Acts of Love)". MusicOMH. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  8. ^ Schurr, Maria (June 10, 2013). "Mick Harvey: Four (acts of Love)". PopMatters. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  9. ^ Andrews, Mark (October 16, 2019). "Mick Harvey: Birthday Parties, Bad Seeds and a life in 12 songs". louder. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
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