White Chalk by PJ Harvey

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Tracklist

    Track     Duration Listeners
1 The Devil 2:57 162,737
2 Dear Darkness 3:09 155,925
3 Grow Grow Grow 3:21 119,940
4 When Under Ether 2:22 155,040
5 White Chalk 3:06 150,161
6 Broken Harp 1:57 131,397
7 Silence 3:05 131,946
8 To Talk To You 4:00 106,713
9 The Piano 2:38 127,199
10 Before Departure 3:45 109,620
11 The Mountain 3:10 105,952

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With: John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey, Tori Amos, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kate Bush and more…


About this album

Universal Music AB (2007) Released: 26 Sep 2007 11 tracks (33:30)
WHITE CHALK is as surprising a musical change of direction for Polly Jean Harvey as the bluesy, torchy TO BRING YOU MY LOVE was back in 1995 after the corrosive guitar fury of the English singer-songwriter’s first two albums. Indeed, WHITE CHALK may be PJ Harvey’s most unexpected work yet, as well as her most artistically accomplished. Putting down her signature guitar in favor of piano (an instrument she has never played on record before), Harvey has crafted a gloriously strange song cycle that owes much to the art rock likes of Kate Bush or Genesis-era Peter Gabriel. These 11 songs tell a fractured, loosely connected story that blends allegorical fantasy with some of the most intensely personal vocal performances of Harvey’s career. Highlights include the phantasmagorical “When Under Ether” and the near apocalyptically intense closer “The Mountain,” although WHITE CHALK is one of those albums that is best experienced as a whole.

Personnel: PJ Harvey (acoustic guitar); Martin Brunsden, Briget Pearse, Nick Bicât, Andrew Dickson (vocals); John Parish (acoustic guitar); Nico Brown (concertina); Eric Drew Feldman (keyboards); Jim White (drums).

Rolling Stone (p.76) - 4 stars out of 5 — ” have a cold pastoral kind of chill, as Harvey howls about being possessed by demon lovers and ghosts in ‘The Devil’ and ‘The Piano.’”
Spin (pp.95-96) - 3.5 stars out of 5 — “Now, romantic desire’s dark and twisted side is Harvey’s main creative turf…Her vocals are downright pretty, sounding more like those of a traditional English singer than the raging punk Medusa of old.”

Other releases from this artist

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  • Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
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  • To Bring You My Love
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  • Rid Of Me
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Shouts

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  • flaviossz

    Perfect is the word. See you!

    10 days ago
  • JosephCagdason

    i cant stop listening to this album. i don't want to stop though.

    25 days ago
  • ijolism

    the only album of hers that fits my ears.

    last month
  • LinusPojken

    Brilliant album! <3

    last month
  • InfatuationR

    it's like a victorian ghost stroy. amazing.

    March 2012
  • GrandeBorinka

    "This entire album is just. I can't even. It's so."

    February 2012
  • vacantwinterday

    Perfection. This will always be underrated because most people want to hear upbeat rock music, not piano-driven ballads about fear and loss. It's still her most accomplished album as a singer-songwriter, although LES is very close.

    February 2012
  • Pejtrick

    love love

    February 2012
  • tallinspace

    my fav PJ album , it's definaly her darkest

    February 2012
  • cccarnero

    masterpiece

    February 2012
  • PulledToBits

    This IS horrifying, that's why I love it [2] For me, it's not PJ Harvey singing, it's the personification of lady ghost on the cover. For me, the entire album is sung by a ghost. Brilliant.

    February 2012
  • Moestitia

    Favorite.

    February 2012
  • SpiritOfYetaxa

    This IS horrifying, that's why I love it :D

    January 2012
  • phosgene

    sorry pj lovers, but this is truly horrifying

    January 2012
  • tonnyaranha

    My favorite, I love the melancholy of this album.

    January 2012
  • PartySanCTG

    I don't even remember listening to this, but apparently I loved it.

    January 2012
  • JanLustiger

    God, I love this album

    December 2011
  • corethisbitch

    Perfection.

    December 2011
  • mrojaspi

    precioso álbum... increíblemente melancólico.....

    December 2011
  • Greenwave81

    PJ ...PJ...U r Goddess!

    November 2011
See all 193 shouts

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