Bleak Squad

Bleak Squad, the collaboration between Adalita, Mick Harvey, Marty Brown and Mick Turner, have released their debut album Strange Love, a dark, cinematic work that draws on decades of collective history.

Each member comes into Bleak Squad with their own weight of experience. Adalita, fronting ’90s alternative icons Magic Dirt, remains one of the most powerful voices in Australian rock. Adalita’s solo career flourished with three acclaimed albums that showcased her emotive songwriting.

Mick Harvey brings a different lineage. From the chaotic days of The Birthday Party to decades as a key figure in Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Harvey’s work as a musician, arranger and producer has shaped the sound of Australian post-punk on a global scale. His solo projects, including his Serge Gainsbourg translations, have further cemented his reputation as a restless, boundary-pushing artist.

Mick Turner of The Dirty Three, best known for his atmospheric guitar textures, has carved out his own identity across solo work and collaborations. His style is painterly, letting chords and tones bleed into each other, and within Bleak Squad it adds a spectral, dreamlike quality.

Marty Brown of Art of Fighting contributes as drummer, songwriter and producer, grounding the band with a rhythmic urgency that pushes against the haze of Turner’s guitar and Harvey’s arrangements. His presence ties the sound together, giving Strange Love its heartbeat.

The album itself is stark and hypnotic. Strange Love is neither straightforward rock nor abstract experiment, but something that hovers between. Adalita’s vocals anchor the songs in intimacy and emotion, while the instrumentation creates an expansive, sometimes unsettling atmosphere. Lyrical themes revolve around desire, memory, longing and the contradictions of human connection.

For all four members, Bleak Squad is not a nostalgia trip. Instead, Strange Love feels like an act of reinvention — a reminder that artists with long careers can still create something startlingly fresh when placed in the right combination.

Bleak Squad’s debut album Strange Love is out now. Marty Brown and Adalita spoke with Noise11’s Paul Cashmere.

Watch the Bleak Squad interview on YouTube

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Tagged as: Adalita, Art of Fighting, Bleak Squd, Magic Dirt, Marty Brown, Mick Harvey, Mick Turner, Nick Cave, The Dirty Three