White Chalk - PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey's eighth album White Chalk was released in 2007 and although some of the subject matter is familiar, musically many regard it as a significant divergence from her previous work. This time the singer has moved away from alternative rock territory towards a repertoire of haunting gothic-folk compositions that delve more deeply into the darker side of the tormented human soul. On White Chalk the dominant electric lead guitar and harsher aggressive vocals have been abandoned in favour of sparse acoustic arrangements dominated by a sombre atmospheric piano playing style that conjures up the image of frozen fingers tapping on icy keys. Despite PJ's lack ...  Read the complete review

I have just bought this album from PJ Harvey, having only owned her most famous album "Tales from the City, Tales from the Sea" in the past. This new album is definitely a real departure from PJ's more well known sound. She is known for her gutsy, raw, often almost punk-influenced sound, but White Chalk is something completely different. Many of the tracks on the album are sung in an ethereal falsetto, quite a quavering and piercing sound. It certainly isn't what you'd call "nice" but for me that's a really good thing. It is a very unusual and though-provoking album, that is actually quite unsettling to listen to. Some of the ...  Read the complete review

~~~Introduction~~~ White Chalk is the 8th album from PJ Harvey, released last year. Since her stunning and critically acclaimed debut, Dry, 14 years ago, she has continued to change, develop and challenge, morphing in her personal style as well as her musical style to keep things fresh, interesting and to keep us guessing. I know all this, and yet I still approached her latest album with something nearing trepidation, for gone is the guitar, so much a part of her sound, gone is the rocky attitude, abandoned for an instrument she had never played before - the piano. Surely this was doomed to be a worthy experiment, a little embarrassing perhaps, but ...  Read the complete review