[Screaming Skull]

I didn't realize it was coming out April 15th...

http://www.pjharvey.net/

The wait is finally over!!!

[Severian]

Awesome.

[Screaming Skull]

PJ Harvey shares new song "The Orange Monkey"...

http://pitchfork.com/news/64660-pj-h...monkey-listen/

[Severian]

Shit I didn't realize it was coming so soon either. Or I forgot. It's pretty much the only rock-type album I'm excited about for the year at this point. I can't fucking wait now. Hell yeah.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I am totally fucking down for this

[Severian]

Man, I checked out "The Wheel" the other day and I'm very pleased. I can totally see why this is being marketed as sort of a spiritual sequel (as well as a chronological one) to Let England Shake. There's a very similar dark, rhythmic instrumentation on this song that makes me totally fucking amped for the album.

Odds are this will be my #2 album of the year. At this point, I can't see it going down any other way.

God I fucking love PJ Harvey! And oh! how I've missed her these past few years. Let England Shake was my hands down fav rotor album of 2011, and let's face it -- she's just a fucking goddess. She not only seems to be physically incapable of releasing bad albums, but also seems to only know how to make classic ones. This is a big deal for me and I'm just dying to hear the album in full.

[Screaming Skull]

Originally Posted by Severian

Man, I checked out "The Wheel" the other day and I'm very pleased. I can totally see why this is being marketed as sort of a spiritual sequel (as well as a chronological one) to Let England Shake. There's a very similar dark, rhythmic instrumentation on this song that makes me totally fucking amped for the album.

Odds are this will be my #2 album of the year. At this point, I can't see it going down any other way.

God I fucking love PJ Harvey! And oh! how I've missed her these past few years. Let England Shake was my hands down fav rotor album of 2011, and let's face it -- she's just a fucking goddess. She not only seems to be physically incapable of releasing bad albums, but also seems to only know how to make classic ones. This is a big deal for me and I'm just dying to hear the album in full.

I share your passion for Polly Jean. She's an all-time great and can do no wrong. I'm totally amped. Now I just need an Atlanta tour date.

[Severian]

Really hoping to catch her live myself. It's been well over a decade since the last time I saw her at this point.

I've been a fan for a long time, but Let England Shake was just so goddamn good that it really rejuvenated my love for her. It just hit me in all the right places, and as an album I think it's my favorite thing she's ever done. For me it recalled the genius of Tom Waits's Real Gone (another all time favorite album of mine), and just annihilated everything else that dropped that year.

[Severian]

Two days? Still?! Aaagh! Too... pumped... to live!

[evollove]

I'm going to savor. Might take a while buying it, then I'll listen to a track a day perhaps, skipping a day now and then. She's most likely not releasing another one anytime too soon and I feel it would be best to listen prudently.

And at least for me, there's an expectation/disappointment ratio. That is, the more pumped I get, the more I later deflate. I read a bad review of the new one and I'm glad.

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/rev...project-review

[Severian]

I hate reviews unless they praise the fuck out of artists I like.

But this is PJ Harvey we're talking about here. She's doesn't make bad albums. Maybe not all of them are "10/10" but I highly down the album is bad.

And if I know PJ, it'll be a long process getting to know the record. That's a good thing. After one listen it will probably be satisfying and good but nothing mind-blowing. As the weeks and months go by, it will start to sink in. That's how I tend to process albums. Very few hit me right in the chest on first listen. But Let England Shake did.

Anyway just saying, the reviewer is probably a dickhole. I ain't readin that shit.

[evollove]

I just can't stand over-praising. I'm sure it's good. But I don't want the music-critic-establishment to tell me so over and over again.


PJ Harvey's least beautiful record by some distance, The Hope Six Demolition Project's intentions are admirable and inarguable. But weighed against the expectations raised by the overwhelming invention of her stout back catalogue, it falls uncomfortably short.

HA! Made you read it. Some of it at least. It is indeed a dippy review. But maybe a little refreshing too.

By the way, I've heard not a whisper of a US show. Mostly European Festival shows through August, so even if she crosses the pond, it might be awhile.

[Severian]

Well folks, it's out! What the hell are we waiting for? Why aren't we talking about this shit? This is like the indie rock version of a new Beyoncé album or some shit!

 

My impression so far is that it's a simultaneously sharp and blunt weapon of an album. Musically, it's like a razor. Lyrically it's a bit more like a baseball bat... but while pitchfork thinks that's a sign of Polly Jean forgetting how to write lyrics, I personally think it's deliberate.

The songs are intoxicating. I'm still getting the feel of it. Hard to compare it to Let England Shake, which is one of the best albums ever in my opinion, except to say, as Pitchfork did, that this is kind of like her "Let America Shake."

Sax sounds fucking great all over this thing.

[Mortte Jousimo]

I was a little disappointed to Let England shake at first, but this new one is amazing! Hit me very deep second time I listened it whole through. There is something same as Let England, but it´s much more "back to the roots"-album like Stories from the Sea was when it came. Doesn´t go higher than White Chalk, a Woman a Man, Dance Hall or Is this Desire in my PJ album rating, but really didn´t even expect it to go, very hard to make better album than those excellent albums.

Absolutely this is going to be my best 2016 album. Only one who can make better is Tom Waits and it doesn´t seem he´s going to release an album this year. Nick Cave? Doesn´t hear anything about him either.

[Kuhb]

I've enjoyed it a lot so far. I'm always perplexed by reviews that throw the whole album in the bin because of the album being "preachy" or being too ambitious thematically. I think it reveals more about the reviewer themselves than the music.

I like that the production is less reverb/delay-soaked than Let England Shake. It lets you hear a lot of little details about the songs... the subtle vocal inflections, the distinctive vocals of Parish and Mick Harvey, little shakers and claps dropping in and out, the ambience of the room I love that sort of thing.

As mentioned, the sax playing is fantastic. She sounds like Archie Shepp on The Ministry of Social Affairs... "wrong" notes and everything. It's glorious.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Kuhb

I like that the production is less reverb/delay-soaked than Let England Shake. It lets you hear a lot of little details about the songs... the subtle vocal inflections, the distinctive vocals of Parish and Mick Harvey, little shakers and claps dropping in and out, the ambience of the room I love that sort of thing.

As mentioned, the sax playing is fantastic. She sounds like Archie Shepp on The Ministry of Social Affairs... "wrong" notes and everything. It's glorious.

I know what you mean about the production. One album that really stands out as a standout in the kind of production you're talking about is Real Gone by Tom Waits. I think both Let England Shake and Hope Six actually sound a lot like Real Gone in a lot of ways, but I do appreciate being able to make out the various thumps and claps and shakes. I think some of this was definitely present on LES, but this album makes it easier for the messy pieces to become part of the greater sound.

This did make me take an afternoon to listen to Dry, Rid of Me and and To Bring You My Love, however, and as good as Hope Six is, throse records just slay. PJ era 1. Absolutely classic.

[Kuhb]

Originally Posted by Severian

This did make me take an afternoon to listen to Dry, Rid of Me and and To Bring You My Love, however, and as good as Hope Six is, throse records just slay. PJ era 1. Absolutely classic.

Agreed, especially the first two. I find Rob Ellis' drumming to be right up there in terms of all time rock drummers... distinctive, constantly toying and interacting with the guitar parts, detailed. Then is seems he's been resigned largely to backing vocal duties for the last 20 years! I cant believe it hahaha

[Mortte Jousimo]

I think PJ found true herself in To Bring You My Love, although those first two are not bad albums (prefer more Dry than Rid Of Me). Love also 4 track demos.

[Severian]

Anyone else see a similarity between PJ, 2011-2016 and Tom Waits, 2004-2007?

Am I just nuts here?

[Mortte Jousimo]

Well, I have thought PJ is some kind of female Waits in music (not become my mind any other female you can say she´s like Waits). But I don´t hear lots of similarities in Real Gone & Let England Shake. Real Gone is one of the rawest Waits, and I think Let England is much more sophisticated although has also rawness comparing other music of it´s time. Also same thing in new PJ album. Lyrically? Yes, maybe.