Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea

by PJ Harvey

Overview

Polly Harvey in a mellow mood? Actually, sort of. While her trademark feminist angst is still largely in place here, by and large the music is less confrontational than in days of yore. Several of the tracks--"Good Fortune," "A Place Called Home," "One Line"--verge on pop; in fact, they could pass for slightly more abstract Pretenders songs ("You Said Something" really does sound like Chrissie Hynde singing a mutant country tune). Given its title, it's not much of a surprise that "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore," manages to work up a convincingly atonal guitar racket, but otherwise the only song that really captures Harvey's trademark Captain Beefheart-like fury is (again, unsurprisingly, given its title) "Kamikaze." Other highlights include "Big Evil," which centers around a biting neo-psychedelic riff (sort of "Paperback Writer" gone dissonant), the hypnotically pretty "This Mess We're In," a sort of early Cure pastiche done as a duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and the concluding "We Float," a piano-driven ode to making peace with your failures that Harvey sings with a sweetness that's almost inspirational.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/18/2011
Label:	Island / Universal / Universal/Island
UPC:	0731454814522
Rank:	3889

Tracks

1. Big Exit
2. Good Fortune
3. Place Called Home
4. One Line
5. Beautiful Feeling
6. Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore
7. This Mess We're In
8. You Said Something
9. Kamikaze
10. This Is Love
11. Horses in My Dreams
12. We Float
13. This Wicked Tongue

Album Credits

Performance Credits

PJ Harvey   Primary Artist,Bass,E-Bow,Piano,Djembe,Guitar,Vocals,Maracas,Keyboards,Lead Vocals
Thom Yorke   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals,Keyboards
Mick Harvey   Guest Artist,Accordion,Harmonium,Keyboards,Percussion,Vocals (Background),Organ,Drums,Bass
Rob Ellis   Bells,Drums,Piano,Keyboards,Tambourine,Vibraphone,Harpsichord,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric),Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Head   Mixing Engineer,Mixing,Engineer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Rob Ellis   Producer
Rob Crane   Design
Maria Mochnacz   Design,Photography
PJ Harvey   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Mick Harvey   Producer
Victor Van Vugt   Mixing,Mixing Engineer