PJ Harvey : Releases >>
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White Chalk >>
The Polly Jean Harvey you hear on White Chalk is not the wild harpy you heard gnashing and wailing on "Sheela-Na-Gig", or the urbane punk stateswoman of 2000's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. No, this is another evolution in her singular career--one that sees electric guitar banished to the cobwebbed attic, tight cat-suit covered over by Victorian gown, and Polly's yearning vocals sounding strangely removed, like they're being broadcast from another, distant age. Piano is the primary instrument here, augmented by occasional, dusty sounding guitar or other, more esoteric stringed instruments--a sparse, limited musical canvas that places the emphasis on song and lyrics. And while initially, they seem foreboding and slow to open up, repeated spins reveal this to be a set of ghostly power and eerily timelessness. "Dear Darkness" is spacious and supremely measured, Harvey singing of words "tightening around the throat of the one I love", while the harp-accompanied "Grow Grow Grow" is impossibly highly-strung, its pain buttoned-up in constricting corsets and tight bows. Only on the closing "The Mountain" does she approach the cathartic anger of her previous work. But then, White Chalk is something else entirely--an icy English gothic that's powerful in its choked restraint. --Louis Pattison
Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea >>
The most incendiary female British performer to emerge in the 1990s, Polly Jean Harvey has fought against stereotyping every step of her career. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea--her sixth album--is as powerful a record as any she's made. It strikes a masterful balance between her blues/folk roots, avant-garde leanings and soaring pop sensibility. The abrasive and jagged guitars hark back to her fiery 1992 debut album Dry on the ballistic yet anthemic opener "Big Exit" while the dreamy and opulent closer "We Float" demonstrates how her song writing has matured. Elsewhere the clamour and emotional rush of a heady relationship--particularly on the Thom Yorke duet "The Mess We're In"--gives the album a ferocious clarity. The production skills of Mick Harvey (of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds) lends depth and assurance, but though PJ quotes from many influences--The Who, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, even West Side Story--her own indomitable presence shines throughout. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea showcases a singular talent at the peak of her powers. --Gavin Martin
To Bring You My Love >>
After fumbling around with hardcore iconoclast producer Steve Albini on Rid of Me (1993) and signing with U2 manager Paul McGuinness, Polly Jean Harvey is ready to live up to her lethal early promise at last. With its growling bass tones, "Meet Ze Monsta" sets the stage early on as Harvey explores her feminine psyche with an intensity and raw power unheard since Patti Smith's heyday. Unlike the terminally inconsistent Smith, however, Harvey plots a brilliant course through slippery laments ("Working For The Man"), corrosive testifying ("Long Snake Moan") and fuzz-toned menace ("Down By The Water"). Sceptics who think Harvey can't outgrow her art-punk base are advised to cue up the flamenco-inflected, string-caressed "Send His Love to Me". --Jeff Bateman
Rid Of Me >>
PJ Harvey's second and most ferocious album finds her claiming images of sexuality, whether they're of a "hysterical" female (the obsessive title track and the indelible accusation "you leave me dry") or male "dominance" ("Man-Size", which also appears in an atonal arrangement with a string sextet, and the feral rockabilly size-brag of "50-Ft Queenie"). Recorded to play up the stark dynamic contrasts of Harvey's early trio, it's as harsh and abrasive as the gutter blues whose vocal style Harvey cops. And she demands a place for herself at the table of great songwriters--a hellfire take on Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" fits neatly alongside her own work. --Douglas Wolk
Is This Desire? >>
Each of Harvey's previous albums has been a distinct affair. She has taken steps forward not only in forging her sound but also in exploring the wealthy veins of rock and roll. So on first listen, Is This Desire? seems almost disappointing, very close to same dark, woozy and bluesy musical territory she staked out on To Bring You My Love. But it's been said that though good stories can be read once, great stories must be read twice. In that spirit, this album, beautifully complex and subtly shaded, deserves a few revisitations. A recommendation: spend a few nonstop hours with Is This Desire? . It will change you. --Tod Nelson
Dry >>
Dry is the cornerstone of the 1990's "women in rock" movement. To paraphrase what Lou Reed said about the Velvet Underground: Not many people bought the album, but those who did formed a band. The attraction is unmistakable: bluesy riffs played with punk-rock energy suddenly crash to a hush, while Harvey's desperate wails become fatigued moans. What is she so hung up about? Well, in the spirit of the Rolling Stones, love and hope and dirty dreams and sex and sex and sex. Through the raucous "Oh My Lover" and "Joe", Harvey airs her laundry quite loudly but never loses her wit, as "Sheela-Na-Gig", which features the mantra "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair / I'm gonna take my hips to a man who cares," attest. --Bill Crandall
The Peel Sessions 1991 - 2004 >>
4-Track Demos >>
Dance Hall At Louse Point >>
Good Fortune [CD 1] >>
