P.J. Harvey "Let England Shake" (2011)
Harvey had pushed the boat out and away from her rock sound with
previous album "White Chalk" where she wrote largely on the piano and
singing in highest reaches of her vocal range. For "Let England Shake"
she again changed her approach, starting with words and letting the
music come from that instead of the other way around. Harvey also
composed quite a bit on autoharp, so again changing things up.
The album was recorded in a church with Harvey leaving a bit of space in
the arrangements, giving her collaborators (including John Parish with whom she'd recorded some albums as a duo) the chance to have input into
the final work.
The title track
opens the album with busy bustle of strummed instruments and tinkly
lead line on what might be xylophone. It's melody seems akin to the
more unsettling but beautiful sounds of "White Chalk". The palm-muted
sparse guitar of "The Last Living Rose" recalls
Harvey's earlier work but still with a gentler folkier sound.
The lyrics dwell on England, death, war and diplomacy. Alluding to
the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, but with Harvey also having read up about
Gallipoli and WWI in general.
The album isn't a terminal downer though. There's some beauty there
with the songs often taking on a pastoral, folky quality. Elsewhere
"The Words that Maketh Murder" almost has a hint of "Bird is the Word"
by the Trashmen but with horns popping out to add colour and an
interesting outro.
"Written on the Forehead"
has almost ecstatic backing vocals. Long-time collaborator (and
sometime Bad Seed with Nick Cave) Mick Harvey shares vocal duties on the
closing track "The Colour of the Earth".
Another daring and interesting album from Polly Jean, where she reaches
outside of her comfort zone to create something that seems totally new
for her, yet that also doesn't seem out of place in her body of work.
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