PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

PJ Harvey, an enigmatic figure, who, like Portishead & Radiohead rose from the ashes of the British underground to become victorious leaders of the 00s. ‘Let England Shake’ is her 7^th album & best since the 2000 Mercury winning ‘Stories From The City’ & it see’s her exploring new thematic/sonic territories; departing from the piano-driven introspection of 2007s ‘White Chalk’, creating an almost anthemic record about the world we live in today, with many of the themes touching on war, the Middle East & rural English life. Inspired by Seamus Murphy's photographic exhibition "A Darkness Visible", in which his vivid & beautiful portrayals of the Afghani people & their culture show a tranquil & peaceful side to a country so blighted with media coverage documenting the past 25 years of war, occupation & devastation. The exhibition deeply inspired the themes of Let England Shake & PJ later asked Murphy to collaborate, which they did with Murphy providing videos for every song on the record. The album opens with the self-titled ‘Let England Shake’, a droning shoegaze-y number, played on autoharp swathed in reverb & effects, is a heated & melancholic protest against war, where she somewhat ironically pleas to the listener ‘Take me back to Constantinople’. ‘The Last Living Rose’ is a nostalgic ballad to England celebrating its ‘grey damp filthiness’ and ‘stinking alleys’. ‘The Glorious Land’, which builds up from a beautiful percussive introduction, with bugle calls interwoven, (which may hark back to her rural Somerset upbringing) to a rich multi-layered tapestry of shrill cries & progressive dream-like production. ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ is a darker more sinister sequel to the previous The Glorious Land, with emphasis on the percussion, which is heavily emblematic of galloping horses, & dark ominous lyrics depicting war; I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat/Blown and shot out beyond belief/Arms and legs were in the trees. The powerful yet dissonant ‘All And Everyone’ tenderly plucks the heart strings; utilizing the autoharps steady drone & John Parish’s brass orchestration creating the definitive dream-pop texture of timbres & sounds. ‘England’ stands out with its (obviously Middle Eastern-inspired) accapella vocalizations & sparse guitar accompaniment. Tender as Blue-era Joni Mitchell & as mighty as Horses-era Patti Smith, Let England Shake is a beautifully crafted account of War & English attitudes towards it. Highly recommend.