new album to be called "let england shake" release date 14th feb 2011 on island
recorded in a 19th century church in dorset with flood as co producer

NME reporter Laura Snapes tweeted about her interview with polly jean and crowed about the quality of the new LP.

I'm pumped.

Now anticipating.

yeah. no kidding. a PJ album w/ flood and john parish called let england shake on the horizon is definitely enough for me to turn my interest from all that i've been giving to kanye and his new record for the last few days. bring this shit on.

and a US tour. pretty please !

AOY 2011

OTMFM IMHFO

i can't believe i'm about to say this but man i really hope some of these shows are all ages so my nephew has a chance to see her before she gets too old and lame like we tend to do.

Oh God, yes! http://soundcloud.com/pjharvey/written-on-the-forehead

holy shit thank you for this.
christmas card is in the mail.

Love this song. Although this is nowhere near what I expected, but then again, it is hard to peg PJ down.

Probably will need to break out Stories today.

Fucking glorious song. Now I'm angry I made my singles list early.

Sounds like a wibbly version of the Cocteau Twins with some rasta dude providing random interludes.

perhaps predictably, this song is totally out of left field. fairly cool though, still need much more time w/ it before i weigh in fully. her website also says she's returning to the "festival stage" in 2011 (http://www.pjharvey.net/news.html). crazy to believe she's gonna be doing it w/ songs like this. then again, who knows what the full album will sound like, as i don't think a lot of info re: it has been broken yet.

likin' this new song a bunch

"The Last Living Rose"



apparently they've made videos for every song on the album

She played a church near her house at the weekend, 200 capacity, secret show. I'd been tipped off in advance but couldn't commit - and then the weather set in anyway so it's probably just as well. Some shaky-handed phone footage from a FOF here
http://www.twitvid.com/Z9JUI

that'z a good tune (the youtube). between that and the reggae one, i'm more curious about this album than i thought i would be.

That's great. Between this and Written On The Forehead, this record is shaping up to be something pretty cool.

I refuse to miss another PJ Harvey show anywhere near me, ever again. She has yet to disappoint. She honestly stands alone for me at the top of the female pantheon of great artists... when she hits it true she leaves you speechless save for the "Damn she is phenomenal".

Totally agree! I can't wait for the new album!

Definitely looking forward to the new album and expect great things. A tour would work for me too. Saw her in '04. Show was sublime.

So, the first single is to be Words That Maketh Murder. I just heardeth it, it maketh me very happy indeed.
Starts weird, builds, finishes with a knowing chant of "what if I take my problem to the United Nations"

Fantastic song.

Best thing she's done in a decade IMO.

agreed.

been fortunate enough to have had the album for a while now and it's just terrific.

in the same fortunate position and this is definitely ot$.

aside from all the released tracks (which are all great), I love "All And Everyone", the banshee/"witches brew" spook of the opener, and the beautiful male-female closing ballad. A truly fantastic reccud.

Valentine's Day can't come soon enough.

More than most any artist, PJ Harvey can dictate her art on her own terms and open your mind to where she's heading next. And she just never, stands still. Can not wait to see her again.

tough for me to knock a remark like this when it's being made about a song that is really fucking good. but man she has written so many other great tracks in the past ten years i'm just not ready to go there. but i'll keep an open mind.



and i stayed away from white chaulk as nobody can seem to agree on it.

but yea, maketh murder...good stuff.

If I wanted to delve into PJ Harvey where should I start?

To Bring You My Love or Stories From the City Stories From the Sea.

Rid of Me or To Bring You My Love

Thanks. Just ordered both used from amazon. Amazon has cheap used CDs these days. People must be getting rid of their CDs as they digitize their collections. I still like having the physical CD.

Really excited for this, based on the 3 songs I've heard and comments from boarders who've heard the whole thing. I don't think she's ever released a bad album, but it seemed like there was a time when she just shat out classics and every release was up there in the "Best PJ album" argument. The last few have been pretty good and had a few songs I loved, but I found myself kinda forgetting about them after a few months. Determined to see her live this year as well, as it's been a decade since I last saw her.

You can now stream the album of the year over at NPR.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/06/133495228/fi...t-england-shake

...seriously, nothing?

Bumped in case you missed it.

That was great. I imagine the critics are going to have massive hardons over this one.

whopping great giant ones.

10/10 in the NME.

it's destined to get a heap of super-strong reviews.

More muted American reaction.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musi...usic_frerejones

and 3/5 from Rolling Stone.

Simply having the word 'England' in the title will cause American reviewers to cock a sneer at it.

yet they do love yr royals when it comes to handing out acting awards.

Fuck Rolling Stone. Listened to this three times and its fucking great. I love the Englishness of it all.

The Colour of The Earth is fucking brilliant. Amazing lyrics:

Louie was my dearest friend
Fighting in the ANZAC trench
Louie ran forward from the line
I never saw him again

Later in the dark
I thought I heard Louie's voice
Calling for his mother then me
But I couldn't get to him

He's still upon that hill
Twenty years on that hill
Nothing more than a pile of bones
But I think of him still

If I was asked I'd tell
The colour of the earth that day
It was dull and browny red
The colour of blood I'd say

I really like that alot.

This is sounding pretty fantastic so far.

Glad I grabbed tickets for her London gig next month early.

hmmm, was gonna wait till the proper release but this buzz has me thoroughly intrigued. only choice so far is to stream on npr, right? do i need headphones or can i listen to it while i'm cleaning my bathroom tonight?

That depends. How dirty is your bathroom currently?

ya know, minor soap scum, toathpaste residue, dusty floor .

i can't get enough of "The Last Living Rose", but i feel kind of lame liking that song because it sounds the most like her older material.

Faint praise in The Wire in which Rob young - who should be the ideal person to review it in light of his writings on English folk - claims it sounds half-finished.