THIS is an album for our times. Ever the musical chameleon, PJ Harvey reincarnates herself from the ghostly greatness of her last album, the haunting White Chalk, to become the war songwriter.
The 12 songs are poetry in music – she penned the lyrics first, before writing a note with her long-term collaborators John Parish and Mick Harvey. The Dorset-born singer-songwriter spent 18 months reading history as well as war poetry in preparation for her eighth CD.
Each song is a snapshot from conflicts in which England and her young men have paid the ultimate price. From Gallipoli to Iraq, the list is long. Her images stick with you, whether it be “the scent of thyme being carried on the wind” in On Battleship Hill or, in her song about the Great War, Hanging In The Wire, “Walker’s in the wire, limbs pointing upwards.”
Musically, Harvey pares things down again. There is a folksy edge, as befitting a collection of war songs, but with guitar, sax and mellotron, there’s plenty of gusto and lovely melodies too, the best undoubtedly on All And Everyone.
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