PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

PJ Harvey
Let England Shake
Rating: Woof Daddy

I just realized that I have been following PJ Harvey since the year I graduated college. 20 years is an awful long time for any artist to still be making music, and even more so for it to still be relevant. Harvey has thankfully remained ever searching in her music, changing her sound ever so slightly; from the angular blues/punk of her debut Dry, through the electro-noir of To Bring You My Love, the haunting tales of Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, and the slightly bizarre interior musings of White Chalk.

Now we get her 8th album of solo material (not counting two releases with Jon Parish), Let England Shake, which is a major departure for her, at least lyrically. Instead of her biting and pointed observations of relationships and life of the interior mind, Let England Shake is a song cycle (or concept album, if you prefer) about war, past, present and future affects England and its people. It is a particularly difficult record to wrap one's heart and mind around, but once you let it in, it is a powerful listen. The lyrics are some of the most brutal and direct Harvey has ever written, frequently focusing on horrible images of war: "soldiers fall like lumps of meat," "flesh quivering in the heat," corpses lying in no-man's land are "unburied ghosts."

While the above description makes the record sound like a dour polemic, Harvey knows better than to make everything one note. She definitely brings some of her most interesting music to back up her ideas and lyrics; using non-standard instrumentation, off-kilter vocals, and odd time signatures.

In "The Glorious Land," she uses a sampled fox hunt horn call to add a subtle motif on her commentary that the lower classes are typically those whose blood is spilled so that the upper classes can retain their privileges:



"Written On The Forehead" samples Niney's reggae classic "Blood And Fire" which adds to the incisive lyrics about England's current immersion in the wars in the Middle East:



"Let England Shake" uses jaunty guitars and xylophones to counterpoint the acidic lyrics about England's current state:



Even though Let England Shake is a challenging, serious record, it is far from being one note musically. There are some lovely passages throughout; some of the most beautiful music Harvey has written.

"All and Everyone," with its subtle percussion, soft organs, and simple acoustic guitars, perfectly balances the haunting lyrics about how wars post infect the wars of present and future:

"Death was in the ancient fortress,
shelled by a million bullets
from gunners, waiting in the copses
with hearts that threatened to pop their boxes,
as we advanced into the sun
death was all and everyone."



"Hanging in the Wire" is another standout track, is sung almost as a lullaby, even though the song is a tragic tale of a man dying in the trenches:



Let England Shake is not a record that will immediately grab you; and I don't think it is intended to do so. I will even admit that after my first listen I really didn't think I would like it. Music this challenging and powerful takes time to sink in and do its work. In our must have satisfaction now culture I am not sure if that work against the record. I, for one, am very glad I gave it a chance to get inside my heart and mind, as it is now definitely in the running for album of the year.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.