Four (Acts of Love)

Walking the same cabaret folk rock path traveled on his previous record Sketches From the Book of the Dead, Harvey sounds comfortable and confident in the skin of his artistic vision.

Despite its short 31-minute duration, Four (Acts of Love) is a weighty, thought-provoking, moving experience.

More so than anything in Harvey’s back catalogue, FOUR impresses with its purity, simplicity, accessibility and lack of pretension.

With a discipline perhaps learnt from his extensive soundtrack work, Harvey has trimmed away the fat, so that every rhythmic or melodic touch serves a purpose.

There is more than enough genuine, heartfelt emotion and originality coursing through Four (Acts Of Love), with Mick Harvey proving himself yet again to have a tender touch when it comes to the delicate business of affairs of the heart.

In a genus so often characterised by grandiloquent gesturing, this is drama of the pensive and underplayed kind. [Jun 2013, p.74]

Four's own structure helps this insisted variety stick together, resulting in another piece of theatrical songwriting that confirms Harvey's genius as an arranger.

Harvey’s talent on Four is to mix impressive arrangements with obtuse lyrics yet still add something to the debate on a well worn topic.

Even if it’s stretched thin and unsatisfying in spots, Four is our most distinct glimpse of Harvey yet.

Four (Acts of Love is a bit like a love affair that didn’t quite live up to its potential.

While all of these versions differ wildly from their originals, they also lose a withering amount of weight due to arrangements that are generally sparser and slowed down.... The other half of FOUR‘s tracks are original, and although they veer more on the foreboding side, they also end before Harvey can establish any kind of differing mood.

Although Four may strike some despondent notes at times, it's a high point for Harvey's career. [Jun 2013, p.88]