Musical goddess and one of my personal heroes, PJ Harvey has announced her first Australian tour dates in a really long time – four years, in fact. This is bloody fantastic news.
Harvey is actually in Australia right now for a one-off appearance at the Melbourne Writers Festival, at which she’ll be talking about, and reciting poetry written to accompany the photography of Seamus Murphy, in their collaborative work The Hollow of the Hand. The book documents the pair’s journey through Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington DC, a journey which also laid foundation for her recent album The Hope Six Demolition Project. The album, which has continued her trajectory toward music with a socio-political conscience, was recorded as part of a public art installation. Harvey recorded the record in what was essentially a big glass see-through box in the middle of London’s Somerset House, meaning that people could literally peer in to the process (for forty-five minutes at a time).
While this marks her only Australian appearance this year, Harvey has also now announced a full musical tour across the country as well as New Zealand, including a full ten-piece band, set to take place in January 2017, with her Sydney appearance set to be a part of the Sydney Festival. She last toured in 2012 with her then-recent album Let England Shake.
Having been a fan of PJ Harvey since first hearing Dry and To Bring You My Love probably 13 years ago now, I can personally guarantee that this show is going to be a brilliant way to kick off a new year of live music. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and I HIGHLY recommend picking some up.
PJ Harvey Tour Dates
Tuesday January 17: Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth WA
Tickets
Thursday January 19: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA
Tickets
Saturday January 21: Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne VIC
Tickets
Sunday January 22: ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney NSW
Tickets
Tuesday January 24: Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland NZ
Tickets
Wednesday January 25: Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington NZ
Tickets
Friday January 27: Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane QLD
Tickets
Image:Maria Mochnacz
It’s only been three months since the release of her album The Hope Six Demolition Project, but PJ Harvey is back with a new song Guilty.
The previously unreleased track was recording last January at Somerset House at the same time as her album. During this time, Harvey allowed audiences to see her recording process and the hard work artists put into the making of an album, as a kind of interactive art installation. The follow-up to 2011’s Let England Shake, and her ninth overall album, shot up to number one in the UK and number seven on the ARIA charts after its release.
The drums introduce the song to our ears as the beat fades in while low-pitched voice begins to chant. The heavy drums give the song a strong, gritty feel that pounds behind her powerful voice. The track has a troubling sound that thumps its way through the lyrics about the absence of justice and the objection against conflict.
“Drones that come/ Come in the thousands/ But nobody asked us/ If we wanted them,” she sings.
The song was released on YouTube with an image of an artwork by Michelle Hennings, as you can see below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P371Wvtg8zU
Harvey is currently preparing for her recently announced European tour. She will start in August in Norway and will run through until November as she stops in Iceland. She leaves room for a couple of shows in the US. No Australian dates have been announced, but perhaps we can look forward to some in coming months. You can visit her website for more details.
Guilty is available now.
Image: Spin
Ahead of the release of her next album, PJ Harvey has now shared the third track from The Hope Six Demolition Project. Premiered on Beats 1 by Matt Wilkinson, The Orange Monkey is the latest from her travel inspired LP.
Following on from the Kosovo inspired The Wheel, and The Community Of Hope which describes a bleaker side of Washington D.C., Harvey has yet to share the direct inspiration for The Orange Monkey. Regardless of any specifics, the song continues the themes behind the album that we have encountered so far.
Image via Pitchfork
Harvey’s songwriting often comes from an incredibly personal place, one listen to When Under Ether would dispel any doubt as to that. The Hope Six Demolition Project charts her global travels, particularly to war torn locations like Kosovo and Afghanistan. Wilkinson comments that Harvey has been described as a “war correspondent” due to her personally experiencing situations and places.
Lyrically, The Orange Monkey speaks again of travel through both space and time. Harvey’s voices comes fully to the fore at the end of the first verse, with the lines “I took a plane to foreign land/ And said I’ll write down what I find.” Multiple vocals sit against the hefty beat and instrumentation. There’s a sense of deserts and travel in the pacing percussion and choral chanting. Also in the narrative style lyrics, which possibly touch on evolution and industrialisation; as the orange monkey changes, and stands on two feet, and “the track was now a motorway.”
The album The Hope Six Demolition Project will be release April 15 via Island/Vagrant Records. Stream the full track The Orange Monkey below.
Image: Telegraph
Taking in the harsh urban realities of Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington DC, it seems that PJ Harvey has had no shortage of inspiration to draw upon for latest LP The Hope Six Demolition Project.
While the entire album takes its name from a government plan which demolished public housing, latest single Community of Hope seems to have proven particularly controversial. Dropping the names of many Washington landmarks, Harvey channels the feelings of suffocation and simmering rage which arise from city’s poor living conditions. A dark take on even Bruce Springsteen‘s twisted sense of Americana, the singer refers to the local South Highway as a “pathway of death” while comparing a school to a “shithole.”
As reported by DCist, the single has elicited criticism from many local officials. Former Washington mayor Vincent Gray, again running for his former position, lashed out against the track’s lyrics. “I will not dignify this inane composition with a response,” he derided.
Grey’s campaign manager, Chuck Thies reflected Gray’s views. “PJ Harvey is to music what Piers Morgan is to cable news,” he declared. Oblivious to any deeper symbolism behind the lyrics, candidate Grant Thompson commented on Harvey’s lyrical line “There’s only on sit down restaurant in Ward 7.” “One of the promises I’m making is that we’re going to bring more restaurants to Ward 7,” Thompson commented.
Washington not-for-profit Community of Hope also took aim at the singer. In an open letter to Harvey the healthcare, housing, and education organisation condemned the track for simplifying the poverty of D.C. residents. It’s surprising to see such a strong literal interpretation placed on the track’s lyrics given the social and economic inequality which permeates the life of many Americans. In 2014 the US Census Bureau is estimated that 14.5 percent of all Americans had lived below the poverty line the previous year.
The film itself depicts a succession of local imagery captured by Harvey’s travel companion and photojournalist Seamus Murphy. Contrasting with the harsh lyrical content, the clip’s imagery showcases some more uplifting scenes. Footage of local singers performing the track in their home and at a DC church places a moving emphasis behind chorus lyrics “They’re gonna put a Wallmart here.”
The Hope Six Demolition Project, released April 15th on Island Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLqsqbObyg
Pre-order here.
Image: Stereogum
PJ Harvey has debuted another song ahead of the release of her upcoming album The Hope Six Demolition Project. The second single to be released from the album, The Community of Hope was premiered on Shaun Keaveny’s show on BBC Radio 6. The first single, The Wheel, was also first heard on Radio 6, played out by Steve Lamacq.
The album itself is due for release April 15, via Island Records. Harvey recorded the album last year as part of a residency at London museum and gallery, Somerset House. Sessions were open to the public, who were able to watch as Harvey played and recorded the songs that make up The Hope Six Demolition Project.
Harvey wrote the songs while travelling in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington D.C. with photographer and filmmaker Seamus Murphy. During which time she also wrote her book of poetry, The Hollow Of the Hand. The footage from the trip has been used for the accompanying clip to The Wheel, and also in a multimedia show she presented in London in late 2015.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ReW0jJkag8]
This latest track has Harvey’s recognisable vocals somewhere between riot grrrl and siren. Also the relentless electric guitar and snare heavy drumming. Never one to indulge in the meaningless, the lyrics to The Community of Hope fit with the visuals from Harvey’s travels. The title refrain and a narrative speaking of a “highway to destruction”, homeland security and “they’re gonna build a wall”.
Listen to the track here by scrolling to 50:39, and you can also watch the video for the album trailer here. PJ Harvey will be embarking on an international tour following the release of The Hope Six Demolition Project.
06-04 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera
06-05 Paris, France – We Love Green
06-10 Porto, Portugal – Primavera Sound Porto
06-11 London, England – Victoria Park
06-12 London, England – Field Day
06-17-18 Helsinki, Finland – Sideways
06-20 Berlin, Germany – Citadel Music Festival
06-20-23 Zagreb, Croatia – INmusic festival
06-24-26 Ewijk, Netherlands – Down the Rabbit Hole
06-29 Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
06-29-07-02 Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
07-02 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-03 Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France – Beauregard Music Festival
07-07 Trenčín, Slovakia – Pohoda
07-08 Vienna, Austria – Harvest of Art Festival
08-11 Oslo, Norway – Øya Festival
08-11-13 Gothenburg, Sweden – Way Out West
Image via diffuser.fm
Following up 2011’s Mercury Prize winning record Let England Shake was never going to be an easy feat for legendary English songstress Polly Jean, better known as PJ Harvey. Having been creating music for the better part of three decades, she has amassed a huge following of fans and enough awards to justifiably sail off triumphantly into the sunset with. Not today though, Harvey is hardly slowing down with a huge European festival tour ahead of her and today announcing her ninth studio album, The Hope Six Demolition Project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUCvVbTY1rE
Coming with its very own trailer featuring two of the eleven tracks announced, The Community Of Hope and The Wheel, the latter of which was premiered as the album’s lead single on the BBC 6 Music Show overnight, The Hope Six Demolition Project is scheduled for worldwide release on April 15th of this year. Like any trailer worth its salt, this one has us incredibly excited for what is to come.
It will be an album based on some of the experiences and journeys Harvey had visiting war-torn places like Afghanistan and Kosovo as well as Washington D.C. in the last few years. Following that, Harvey is hitting the European festival circuit hard with a brand new nine-piece band in tow, playing a total of 14 dates across three months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbq4G1TjKYg
The Wheel will have its formal release as a single on January 23rd. The tracklist for The Hope Six Demolition Project is as follows:
- The Community of Hope
- The Ministry of Defence
- A Line in the Sand
- Chain of Keys
- River Anacostia
- Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
- The Orange Monkey
- Medicinals
- The Ministry of Social Affairs
- The Wheel
- Dollar, Dollar
No word just yet on whether Harvey is touring outside of Europe (cough, come to Australia yeah thanks, cough) but her live schedule at this point will cover these dates and locations:
June 4 Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain
June 4-5 We Love Green Festival, Paris, France
June 12 Field Day, London, United Kingdom
June 17-18 Sideways Festival, Helsinki, Finland
June 20 Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin, Germany
June 22 INMusic, Zagreb, Croatia
June 24-26 Down The Rabbit Hole, Beuningen, The Netherlands
June 29 Open’er Festival, Gdynia, Poland
June 29-July 2 Roskilde Festival, Denmark
July 2 Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
July 3 Beauregard Festival, Herouville St Clair, France
July 7 Pohoda Festival, Trenčín, Slovakia
August 11 OYA, Oslo, Norway
August 11-13 Way Out West, Gothenburg, Sweden
We’re looking forward immensely to what PJ Harvey is bringing to 2016.
The Hope Six Demolition Project is out April 15th via Island Records.
Image from Consequence Of Sound
PJ Harvey has been incredibly busy as of late. Aside from recording her live album project (her first full length in four years), she’s co-written a poetry book The Hollow Of The Hand, traveled between Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, DC with photographer/filmmaker Seamus Murphy and created a multi-media performance to tie it all together. Pitchfork reports that the singer-songwriter held the performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Friday for her birthday.
The book followed Harvey and Murphy’s travels during the 2011-2014 period and the performance at the launch was divided into sections titled after their journeys to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington. Accompanied by photographs and films courtesy of Murphy, Harvey read excerpts from the book, including poems titled Dance on the Mountain, Begging Bowl and 3 a.m. Washington, D.C. among others. However, perhaps most excitingly, the singer also debut a total of ten new songs on the night.
Joined by longtime collaborator John Parish and Gallon Drunk’s James Johnston, Harvey performed the new songs Chain of Keys, The Wheel, The Orange Monkey, Dollar Dollar, The Community of Hope, Homo Sappy Blues, Medicinals, Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln, River Anacostia and The Ministry of Social Affairs. Though an official release date for the new album has yet to be announced, there are a few fan clips floating about the internet that you can watch until then: