Four (Acts of Love) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Mick Harvey – and his second since leaving Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It was released in June 2013 under Mute Records. The 14 tracks make up a song cycle, bookended by "Praise the Earth (Wheels of Amber and Gold)" and "Praise the Earth (An Ephemeral Play)". The album includes eclectic covers including The Saints' punk "The Story of Love", P. J. Harvey's "Glorious" – she 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 composed by Mick Harvey; except where indicated

No.TitleLyricsLength
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
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
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.
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