I’ve always found PJ Harvey to be somewhat impenetrable, an artist to stand back and admire rather than truly love. Like a female Tom Waits. Undoubtedly good quality, yet I’m seldom compelled to listen to her.*
This is the first of her albums I’ve heard for some time and her voice has evolved beyond what I have come to accept as “the PJ Harvey voice”. Instead she sings as sweetly as I’ve heard her, evoking the likes of Siouxsie, Kate Bush and even Bjork. The title track sets the scene, all xylophones and incantations. The instrumentation is mighty fine, with masses of disparate melodies going on in tracks like The Last Living Rose and The Glorious Land and All & Everyone, with horns and sinister organs leading the way.
The livelier tracks such as On Battleship Hill and In The Dark Places work best, the latter particularly sticking out, ironically due to the traditional rock instrumentation a la 70s Patti Smith. None of the tracks overstay their welcome, many tracks falling short of the 3 minute mark. Harvey takes a back seat on final track, The Colour of Earth, mainly sung by John Parish with Harvey chiming in harmonically.
For those about to investigate PJ Harvey this seems like a good starting point, and will surely be lapped up by her many fans.
Killian Laher
*(Some days I listen to ‘Innocent When You Dream’ on repeat, definitively compelling – Ed)
Track list:
1. Let England Shake
2. The Last Living Rose
3. The Glorious Land
4. The Words That Maketh Murder
5. All & Everyone
6. On Battleship Hill
7. England
8. In The Dark Places
9. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging On The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour Of The Earth
