PJ Harvey Written on the Forehead (Island)
4/5
By: Stan Morgan
The consistently brilliant PJ Harvey is back with a new album, Let England Shake, and ‘Written On The Forehead’ is the first song to be taken from it. Polly Jean has had a tendency to shift styles from one album to the next, and this time seems to be no exception.
‘Written on the Forehead’ sees a take on Cocteau-Twins-esque dream pop, a refreshing change from the piano ballads of last album White Chalk, which in turn was a left turn from the grunge of the preceding Uh Huh Her. Shimmering shoegaze guitars are twinned with a sample from Niney the Observer’s reggae classic ‘Blood and Fire’, in a move that I’m sure most of us didn’t see coming, but one which is pulled off with aplomb. The vocals are also a progression from what has come before, Harvey crooning “Let it burn, let it burn” with a kind of tone uncommon in her previous work.
From the strength of this early taster it’s safe to speculate that we’re not going to be let down by PJ Harvey’s next offering, and what’s more it could be something very special.
Written On The Forehead by pjharvey
Artists in this article: PJ Harvey
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