2023

I Inside the Old Year Dying - 91%

PJ Harvey has changes quite a bit since her beginnings as an angry songwriter in the clothes of a 1990s grunge queen. Her progression with different produces and making each album an almost political statement has been fascinating to watch, and finally she has reached this album- total abstraction. She has made it one of her best albums on her 10th official release, if not her very best as this is true experimental music: an artist pushing to be better and actually succeeding. The songs all have a quality to them that begs repeat listens, and it works over and over again creating a haunting listen and a new bizarre approach to songwriting.

          The song titles are some of the most puzzling I have ever seen on a record. “I Inside the Old I Dying” strums along like a traditional folk song but comes from odd angles just enough to be accessible while being very strange; “A Noiseless Noise” finally erupts with some distorted guitars but still fits the tone of the album by having the noise itself wash over us; “Prayer at the Gate” has the quality of reaching a certain level of purity in a forest where everything is covered in snow and still; “ A Child’s Question, July” has some great back n forth male/female vocals creating a song that relies on its lyrics and totally succeeds; “Seen Am I” starts off like spoken word poetry before erupting with that jagged bass line and odd time signature; “A Child’s Question, August” is the closest we get to a traditional Harvey ballad, but even this one reaches into our soul and freezes it.

The use of chill and vagrant sounds is something she has always excelled at, and while this album does not quite rock like some of her past listens it is Harvey at her purest and perhaps she is unto something. By truly going full artistic wonder and not caring at all for fashions or trends, Harvey has made a new guide for music we should all be following.

Best Songs: Seem An I, A Child’s Question August, A Noiseless Noise, Autumn Term