White Chalk

Von Van Kessel, 10. März 2008

PJ Harvey, 2007.

After three years of absence, her last release being 2004’s «Uh Huh Her», Polly Jean Harvey’s newest offspring was worth the wait. Where «Uh Huh Her» was already a good deal darker than what we got used to, «White Chalk» definitely makes you wonder what dark and deep hideout of her soul she spent the last years in. Wherever it was, apparently she had a piano at hand and learned how to play it, as that became the axis around which the whole album was built, leaving her usual instrument of choice almost completely out. The result is an extremely haunting trip from the first track to the last, lyrics mainly about demon-lovers, ghosts and other things you don’t want to share a bed with. Even without any track really standing out, probably mainly due to the absence of the great choruses she is so well known for, it is very well able to grasp and hold your attention. When the last notes of «The Mountain» fades out, the listener finds himself in a state that’s probably much similar to the state she was in when she wrote the album: melancholic and alone. If that’s your thing, this is your album.