PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
- Written by Joe Bates
It's hard to pinpoint how much context shapes the way we hear and critically appraise music, but, without going out on too big of a limb, it's probably has a large effect. If a release is timed well, or situated well within the narrative of an artists career, chances are it'll sound better than if it isn't, at least initially. With that in mind, the context surrounding PJ Harvey's new record, Let England Shake, is about as positive as it can be and it takes a lot of strength to resist its influence. It just all sounds so perfect: a big, intelligent concept, that of a songwriter trying to do what commissioned war poets and photographers do for their respective fields.
But is it? Her previous record, White Chalk, was a similarly exciting and tantalising prospect – learning new instruments, adopting a whole new sound, singing like she was trapped in a haunted Victorian orphanage – but was let down by a lack of variety or strong songcraft. This record is much stronger in both regards, and the overarching concept manages to drag the more pedestrian efforts up by the scruff of their neck and make them seem more than they actually are.
There are experiments that don't quite work, songs that don't go anywhere, and the lyrics, clearly very important to this album, follow the White Chalk model of trying to achieve power through a bluntness and a hyperbole that can be very clumsy-sounding at times. Because of these drawbacks, the adulation it is receiving in pre-release reviews seem to be based on not separating the context from the product, being far too impressed that PJ Harvey is doing this sort of thing rather than concentrating how good this sort of thing actually is. But let's not get distracted by the reservations – it is a very good, very exciting record, and her best in a long while.
In particular, the first half is an invigorating, experimental affair with some incredible peaks. The title track is the album condensed – simple, melodic, but with an adventurous discordance, both through the lyrics and through the slightly-off percussion and riffs chiming through it. 'The Last Living Rose' raises the bar even higher - a gorgeous piece of songwriting that takes a mournful pride in modern England, it feels distinct from the rest of the tracks in its tone of resignation but somehow it fits easily within the concept.
Its desolate sister-track 'England' again finds Harvey on top-form on a similar subject, her stark lone voice providing something similar to White Chalk but the strength of the song itself brings it above most of the sketches on that record. Before even engaging with the subject of war or its importance to this album, these songs are simply awesome in their own right and highlights of her career.
The highlight amongst these highlights is 'Written on the Forehead', a song unlike any other song with an atmosphere completely unique; apocalyptic, troubled, but somehow as celebratory as a song about a post-war landscape can be. When Harvey begins singing along with the 'let it burn' sample, the effect is completely spine-tingling.
On other tracks she doesn't come close to managing this subtlety and ambiguity, but manages often to make a virtue of their opposites, in particular with songs like 'All and Everyone' becoming massive and booming as Harvey's lyrics get more intense. And with 'The Glorious Land', as elsewhere, she creates drama through big, simple chord changes on her autoharp, which is consistently used to great effect, as the band follow her example with simplicity seemingly being the guiding principle as the song explodes into its OTT lyrical conclusion: “What is the glorious fruit of our land? / the fruit is deformed children”.
Which brings us to some of the albums drawbacks. As much as Harvey wants to be the objective reporter, bringing back stories of war, the images she choose will divide listeners, as they are intentionally jarring and stark. In one song “soldiers fall like lumps of meat”; in the next “death was everywhere”, and it does not really relent. Undoubtedly this will be seen as part of the album’s power, and it is of course necessary not to pull punches when it comes to subject-matter such as war. But often it feels like a lyrical quick-fix; instead of weaving stories of war or presenting scenarios that elucidate its tragedy, Harvey will often go straight for the jugular.
When the album truly succeeds, the lyrics mesh perfectly with the music – 'The Last Living Rose' and 'Written on the Forehead'. But given their importance, they can sometimes come across as misguided and clumsy. And it's not always simply the lyrics that are holding the album back from being a masterpiece. Some songs, especially in an inconsistent second half of the album, are simply forgettable. When the simplicity doesn't work, it simply leaves half-formed songs with little for the listener to latch onto.
This is mercifully rare on Let England Shake though and the majority of its songs make a strong impression. It is a genuinely impressive work that gives enough to make you realise why some will get carried away with it and declare it perfect. The motivations behind these reactions are clear – basically, it is incredible that she is still making records the way she wants to and that they are still offering something very new. But stressing this too much gets in the way of appreciating the records true achievements. It's not perfect but it is seriously impressive on its own terms - not because of the intentions behind it or the fact that it's about the 20th album in a row where she has completely changed her sound - but because it is a very complete product with a number of moments that would rank high in any artists career.