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Rating:
Unfortunately, I don't "do" this site; I just "follow" it.
So, all I can do is review records from the recent past, even if they still seem motionless to me, suspended in a void, without a temporal placement.
PJ Harvey is a strange character in the musical landscape, so much so that it's hard to compare her to someone. Some try with Patti Smith or with the female alter ego of Nick Cave, but the comparisons don't hold.
Then there's someone who compares herself like the demented Carmen Consoli did by arrogantly declaring herself "the Italian PJ Harvey" (let's kill her!).
I like to evaluate her for what she is, a star that shines with its own light.
In this context stands this record, "Is This Desire?" which has an incredible atmosphere: the new sounds do not mask PJ's style; rather, they enhance it.
"Is this desire Enough enough To lift us higher To lift above?"
The ancient theme of Eros and Thanatos in PJ's visionary mind, evident in the superb song that titles the album. And what about the perfect song "A Perfect Day, Elise," almost an advertisement, almost dance and yet so raw in its arrangements.
The album opens with "Angelene" "I see men come and go But there'll be one who will collect my soul and come to me Two-thousand miles away He walks upon the coast Two-thousand miles away It lays open like a road".
There are many names of men and women in this album, in the titles like... Elise, Angelene, Catherine, and in the lyrics... Joe, for example. Names that PJ gives to her own imagination, a sort of personification of her own thoughts. It's brilliant and poignant. Like the penultimate song, "The River," where all the instruments seem caressed, and PJ's voice seems to flow, as if carried by the current towards the river mouth.
"Two silent birds Circled by Like our pain in the river And we followed the river And we followed the road And we walked through this land And we called it a home"
A great album, perhaps not on par with other productions by the singer-songwriter, but a fundamental step for those who want to get an idea of her.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 A Perfect Day Elise (03:14)
He got lucky, got lucky one time
Hitting with the girl in room five oh nine
She turned her back on him facing the frame
Said, "Listen Joe don't you come here again"
White sun scattered all over the sea
He could think of nothing but her name Elise
God is the sweat running down his back
The water soaked her blonde hair black
It's a perfect day
A perfect day, Elise
He got burned by the sun
(He's a lucky man)
His face so pale and his hands so worn
(And the sky)
Let himself in room five oh nine
(As she turned away)
Said a prayer, pulled the trigger and cried
(Tell me why)
It's a perfect day
A perfect day, Elise
Ah oh, It's a perfect day
A perfect day, Elise
03 Sweeter Than Anything (03:12)
In photographs
I've seen him laugh
Hand overboard
Sun on his back
Summer was here
I remember it well
How he stood in the shade
How we both kissed and fail
How can this be
There's nothing left here
How can this be
There's nothing left here
So sad our, so sad our
So sad our, so sad our
So sad our, so sad our
Our memory, hey
Now he talks in his sleep
Says I've never known peace
And I don't know him now
He's a stranger to me
How can this be
There's nothing left here
How can this be
There's nothing left here
We were never more than a dream
Brief as summer or spring
Sweeter than anything
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Other reviews
By portland
PJ skillfully handled electronic contamination, visibly in tracks like 'The Wind,' 'Electric Light,' or 'No Girl So Sweet.'
In short, it is not music, but a true musical anabasis.
