Mick Harvey celebrates Serge Gainsbourg

By Emma Doherty

Iconic musician Mick Harvey is giving the work of Serge Gainsbourg a new lease on life in celebration of his 90th birthday at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Mr Harvey, most known as the co-founder and guitarist of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party and The Boys Next Door, and as the long-time producer and band member for PJ Harvey, has translated the composer’s work to English so that he could reintroduce it to new audiences.

“I have been a big fan of Serge for a long time and found more and more material of his. He is a great writer, a great lyric writer, and I discovered early on that so few people outside of French-speaking countries were really aware of his work at all,” Mr Harvey said.

Mr Harvey returned to the project after 20 years, with the release of Volume 3 – Delirium Tremens and Volume 4 – Intoxicated Women in 2016. The albums also include duets, which Serge Gainsbourg wrote during the ‘60s for singers such as France Galle, Juliette Greco and Brigitte Bardot.

Mr Harvey will be joined on stage by Xanthe Waite on vocals, JP Shilo on guitar/keys, Dan Luscombe on keys, Hugo Cran on drums and Glenn Lewis on bass. There is also a string section, which comprises of six violins led by Bronwyn Henderson.

The evening will also feature a preview of the documentary Souvenirs of Serge, which reveals a different side to Serge Gainsbourg, as told by his former partner and collaborator, Jane Birkin.

For more information and tickets visit melbournerecital.com.au