PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey was born in the Westcountry (Yeovil, Somerset, to be precise – yeah, it’s not exactly Devon, but it’s still pretty nice) on the 9th of October 1969, and grew up on a farm in nearby Dorset. Brought up on a diet of Hendrix, Beefheart and Howlin’ Wolf, and presumably some food, she played saxophone in bands with names like the Polekats and The Stoned Weaklings before getting in to Slint (who, legend has it, she applied to be the singer for) and the Pixies and forming the original PJ Harvey trio in January 1991, consisting of herself on vocals and guitars, Rob Ellis on drums and Ian Olliver – quicky replaced by Steve Vaughan – on bass. They played their debut gig at a skittle alley in the Antelope Hotel, Sherborne, at which they were begged to stop playing by the promoter as the entire audience fled.
Things got better. Choosing to continue with music rather than accept a place at St Martin’s College in London to study sculpture, she was snapped up for a single by Too Pure, who released ‘The Dress’ in October of ’91, which preceded her debut LP ‘Dry’ a year later. After an infamous topless photoshoot for the NME preceded a move to Island records in 1993, for whom she would record the incredibly raw LP ‘Rid of Me’ with Steve Albini (who claims she only ate potatoes during the whole recording process). A solo mini album of four track demos, called ‘Four Track Demos’, did exactly what it said on the tin (case).
PJ Harvey as a trio however had run its course, and Ellis and Vaughan departed before Polly began work on ‘To Bring You My Love’, which would become her first million seller after its release in 1995. She was voted artist of the year by Rolling Stone, and had her first real hit with ‘Down By The Water’;.
Ever her own woman, she followed the critically acclaimed, more polished rock of ‘To Bring You My Love’ with a far more experimental effort, ‘Is This Desire?’, filled with dark electronics and keyboards at the expense of her trademark guitar playing. Critics went ‘hmm’ a lot, but Polly herself counts it as the best of her albums.
Finding far more favour with music hacks was 2000’s ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’, recorded in Dorset, Paris and New York with Mick Harvey and old bandmate Rob Ellis once again. It featured Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on three songs, sold bucketloads, and won Polly the coveted Mercury Music Prize that year.
Her seventh record, ‘Uh Huh Her’, was a much more rock-focused affair than the lush textures present on ‘Stories…’, and on it, PJ Harvey played every instrument bar the drums. Changing course again, her new record ‘White Chalk’, released this month, sees her sit down at an instrument she claims to never have been able to play prior to its recording; the piano. As with every note of her career, it’s a fascinating, disarmingly beautiful and confrontational listen.
PJHARVEY.NET: The official site is as comprehensive as these things should be, allowing you to stream tracks from throughout PJ’s career.
POLLYHARVEY.CO.UK: This fan site’s a real labour of love – check out the discography with every release dealt with in fabulous, geeky detail.
MYSPACE.COM/PJHARVEY: Worth visiting just to see an enormous background on which Polly stares blankly into her own face. And I guess the songs are OK.
PJ HARVEY @ ISLAND RECORDS: Her label’s attempt at summing up her brilliance. And we have to say, the news feed’s pretty up to date.
ROOM509.NET: A comprehensive tour archive, discography, images organised by album era – Room 509 has it all.
UH HUH HER: ‘Beautiful. Quite beautiful’ – said Toby L of Peej’s seventh full length.
SHAME: The second single from ‘Uh Huh Her’ assessed via the medium of a review.
YOU COME THROUGH: …and another standout from the same LP, given a similar treatment.
LIVE @ BRIXTON, 2004: Tim Dellow gets put in his place by a stunning performance.
MAN SIZE:
THIS IS LOVE:
WHEN UNDER ETHER (LIVE)