PJ Harvey “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” (2000) got it
PJ had been based in New York to do some acting work, wrote some songs
and decided to live there for a time. She was insistent that this was
not her “New York album” but there is certainly a bit of a musical link
to American alt-rock and punk. In opening track “Big Exit” her vocal
delivery sounds not unlike favourite NY son Lou Reed (though the
drawl-meets-snarl vocal may just be Harvey’s own developing vocal
style).
Some of the lyrical content is definitely more American with “Something
you Said’ listing off places and events in NY, and “Big Exit’s” gun
fixation certainly sounds a lot more American than British.
The album has an overall more melodic and polished sound than PJ’s previous albums, though “This is Love”
is still a fairly noisy rawk song that places swagger over
sophistication. Each verse consisting of a couple of repeated lines
e.g.
“I can't believe that life's so complex
When I just want to sit here and watch you undress”.
Single “Good Fortune”
has a nice folk-rock vibe to it and I think it was actually the first PJ
Harvey song that I ever heard…. Well it was either that or “One time too
many” from the (surprisingly good) “Batman Forever” soundtrack.
PJ continues to be an interesting musical force. I’m slightly
disappointed that the list doesn’t feature her “White Chalk” album where
she challenged herself by switching to composing and recording on piano
and singing in the upper reaches of her register. The result was a
beautiful yet uncomfortable listen. She is well represented on the
list though, so I can’t really complain.
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