Best known as Nick Cave’s right-hand man and PJ Harvey’s secret weapon, Mick Harvey is a multi-instrumentalist who always performs at a very high level. This solo album, with Harvey playing most of the instruments and, for once, writing all the songs, is a dark, chilling work with many great tracks. “October Boy,” his tribute to former Birthday Party guitarist, the late Rowland S. Howard, is a dramatic minor-key tune that extends beautifully into “The Ballad of Jay Givens,” a reflection on the suicide of a friend of Harvey’s father. “Rhymeless” is the sound of a doomed piano ballad for parents whose children have died. Harvey sings it with deepest compassion, in a gravelly croak that is only a timbre shy of his former bandleader. The melodies are exquisite. “How Would I Leave You?” is Harvey’s idea of country rock, heavy on poetry and deep thought, open vistas and big ominous skies. The extra guitars backing “Famous Last Words” prove Harvey’s the John Cale to Cave’s Lou Reed, a crafty rock ‘n’ roller with a lot of cool, weird ideas.