album review: pj harvey. let england shake. 14 february 2011. island records
(buy here)

polly jean harvey may not sing the words “i love england” until mid way through the seventh track on her new album, but it is around this theme that the record is based and it could have easily been the opener. as it happens you are left in no doubt that this is the case by the time you reach the moment she utters the words. you have also become used to her slower voice by then. a style which she has described as “narrator”.

it isn’t just england that she is singing about though. it is history. and more precisely war. this isn’t an album about sunny mornings and picnics. the sadness that resonates throughout does not bring you down though. it remains very listenable.

this is an album that manages to both reinvent harvey and play to her past strengths at the same time. what it has produced is her most beautiful work yet.

8.5