Our gal PJ Harvey is back

Title track. It's lovely, though I hope the whole album isn't this.... low-key.

Did she ditch the USA like Tina Turner?

R2–This is just the first round of tour dates.

OP, I don’t think PJH is really Datalounge’s “gal”. I expect she’s got maybe a dozen fans on here, who almost never post anything about her. I mean, why would her ferocious style of noisy blues-punk-rock resonate with anyone but maybe a handful on here?

I can see some DLers like some of her faggier stuff, I guess.

That’s also not the title track. The title track is called “I Inside The Old Year Dying.” Tricky, I know.

I agree, R1. That track is very nice, but I like angry PJ much better. Looking forward to the US tour however!

Yes, really hoping she plays the US and brings her goddamn electric guitars with her.

I'm a big fan of PJ. I think most fans prefer her earlier work. Her last few albums have not been my cup of tea, that Hope 6 project was a let down. Here is a wonderful live performance of 50 Ft Queenie from 2016.

It’s so weird to see her performing that song without a guitar, though, R7. I didn’t go to any shows on that tour because the idea of her just singing the whole time, and only picking up one instrument — and a saxophone at that — for a few songs, was such a turn-off.

r3 - I think you might be surprised. PJ Has a big gay following.

r4 - oop! Thanks for the correction... and for being so nice about it, too.

r7 - the last FULL album of hers I loved unabashedly was Let England Shake, for which she, rightfully, became the first artist to win a second Mercury Prize. I didn't love Hope 6 either, but I thought a couple of the songs were wonderful, especially The Wheel, which I find very moving. I think it was partly about the refugee crisis of the 2010s and about those lost to war in Kosovo.

The other song released from the new album.

PJH has a big gay following because every woman who’s ever worked as a singer in any capacity does, once that woman gets to a certain level of notoriety.

But that doesn’t mean PJH is Datalounge material. Come on now.

I abhor the Let England Shake album. Cannot listen to it. I actually prefer Hope Six. But I don’t like that one either.

R7 I am one of those fans that loved her earlier work. I loved the rawness of Rid of Me and 4 Track Demos, and LOVED To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is wonderful as well, if her most traditional, and I also liked White Chalk and her two albums with John Parish.

I felt Uh Huh Her was sort of a repeat of earlier stuff and have struggled mightily with Let England Shake and Hope Six Demolition Project, probably the only work of hers I actively and deeply disliked.

Hoping for something interesting this time, not holding my breath.

So many of the songs on To Bring You My Love are just so OTT with inherent drama and emotion. No surprise that a lot of DL Marys would be drawn to those songs.

And if I have to be honest....I love Bjork, love a huge chunk of her body of work, but also have not been vibing with her most recent work.

But I wept from the very core of my soul when I watched the Hyperballad performance from Coachella. It was deeply moving.

I'm always surprised to hear some PJ Harvey fans find Let England Shake difficult. I think it's one of her most interesting and, frankly, accessible albums. Just brilliant from start to finish. Seems like it was nearly universally praised by critics, too (link below.)

I found White Chalk difficult. Maybe I should give that one another shot, though.

I don’t like my PJH to be accessible. I like her noisy as hell, with guitar, bass, and drums like a battering ram.

Let England Shake is basically a ‘contemporary folk’ album with hideous singing throughout. I tried listening to the demos, but even those were irritating. I get that the lyrics are good, don’t get me wrong. It’s just the music is not something I’d ever listen to, or want to hear from her.

My struggles with the last two albums is that they didn't feel rooted in anything personal, it was very much her writing about other things she's observed.

Sometimes that can be good, not so much others. There's a period of Joni Mitchell's catalogue that feels similar, the lady rolling down her limousine window and commenting on some awful world happening. Not every song needs to be PJ opening her vein, either....but those albums just kinda lost me based on the content.

LOVE PJ. She is by far and away the most talented of the 90s rock/alt women (and I say this as a major Courtney Love/Hole fan), she’s far above the ones she’s lumped in terms of musical and writing ability - a quality she shares with Joni Mitchell.

I think To Bring You My Love is my favorite from her, but I’ve enjoyed all her work.

I pretty much agree with all of that, R17.

Ah? Ah! Oohhhhhhhhhh!

How's the new album?

r20 I listened to the whole album after consuming some edibles and it blew me away. It's quiet, but playful and not gloomy. Lots of interesting sounds. I will revisit it sober to form an official verdict.

Here's a clip from PJ Harvey's current tour. What a beautiful song and I love her moves.

R22 That looks awful.

She looks so bestial with that auburn perm parted down the middle and the eyebrows. Yikes.

I've been obsessed with her for years, I guess, but I only like her with a melody.. (only decides to do those every now and then.) and I think she's crazy.

Has she ever had a man?

I am a fan but find her work hit and miss, especially the more recent stuff. That said, this is one of the most awe-striking recorded performances I've ever seen. I revisit it often.

R17 Courtney herself agrees with this. She's always said that PJ was the one peer of hers that made her feel like her work was shit. It's not, but I get the sentiment. I also love Hole and am a big Courtney fan—I probably prefer Courtney to PJ if I'm being honest, but that's more just a matter of taste.

She rides deep as a fag hag with Ben Whishaw now

Courtney once told a story about how she went through PJ’s luggage during a music festival. She said it was exactly what you would think. Neat and organized and perfect.

R28 I remember that anecdote as well. A pure invasion of privacy, but a very Courtney thing to do. They're two very different types of people with different styles and approaches to their craft. Both professionally and personally, Courtney has always been a lot more raw, off the cuff, and just a maelstrom of energy; PJ seems more restrained, introverted, and focused. There's a quote from Courtney where she said she wished she was beautiful or at least wise, but instead she's simply "mad and violent." I think we all tend to want what we don't have (or that which we are not) on some level.

Always blows my mind she was infatuated with Vincent Gallo in a on/off thing for six years as he’s always been unstable. She did allegedly write my second favorite album of hers about their relationship - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. (My favorite: Is This Desire?, most of which is allegedly about Nick Cave)

I love that she’s a fag hag to Brit actors. She’s also best friends with Colin Morgan who is pretty much glass closeted at this point.