PJ Harvey—“Let England Shake”

Shane from MadCity Music Exchange suggests:
PJ Harvey—“Let England Shake”

I know I’m going to alienate a few of you in saying this, but I’m just going to come right out and admit it: I’ve never been a huge PJ Harvey fan.  In fact, to be quite honest, if 85% of her catalogue disappeared–excluding certain gems and the entire “4-track Demos” album— I’d say the world would be better for it.

My previous distaste for Polly Jean makes her new album and my devotion to it all the more remarkable.  All the things that had previously put me off about PJ Harvey—the growling guitars, the gutteral wailing, the heavy-handed lyrical insistence on her sinister power—are replaced by a deceptively lighter and more palatable sound.  Make no mistake: homegirl’s still a wolf, but she’s gotten herself some fierce sheep couture.

The first four tracks could be an album all their own, but the song “The Words That Maketh Murder” stands out as the most chilling and blunt anti-war song since Kate Bush’s “Army Dreamers.”  Every track stands alone, and all 12 hang together as a cohesive masterpiece.  The album is good enough to make me want to revisit her past catalogue.

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