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Rating: 'Thank You John'
The personal tribute by Polly Jean to the English DJ John Peel is this collection of sessions that have featured her as a guest since her beginnings. In fact, it was thanks to the frequent programming of the late DJ that the tomboy from Dorset emerged and found her place in the music scene over the last 15 years.
The official list of the musician's peel sessions includes many more songs than those that are part of the collection's track-list. This would suggest a very specific selection of the songs to include and the pieces to discard, perhaps guided, who knows, by the particularly happy memory of some recordings, as suggested by the black and white photos of the two friends. In particular, the photo on the back seems to depict a smiling young girl, full of admiration towards that father figure beside her. Indeed, Polly had the privilege of always being under John's protective wing, just as he had the privilege of watching little PJ grow up.
The songs present here are evidence of this: the first sessions date back to 1991, the year before the release of "Dry", the artist's deadly debut, accompanied by the historic Rob Ellis on drums and Steve Vaughan on bass. Oh My Lover has a somewhat raw vocal, as does the rising Water, but they encapsulate the power inherent in the album from which they originate, which explodes in the proud Victory (punctuated bass, odd-time drums and distorted slides) and the cheeky and irresistible Sheela-Na-Gig. The same lineup tackles, in '93 (shortly before the release of the violent second album "Rid Of Me"), the previously unreleased (now no longer) Naked Cousin, jazz-blues, pipe organ and husky voice, and the cover of bluesman Willie Dixon Wang dang Doodle ('all night looooooong, all night loooooooong..').
Another blues cover is present among the sessions dated 1996 and shared with musician John Parish, a close collaborator of Harvey: Losing Ground by Rainer Ptacek. A version in 4-Track Demos style of Snake, hysterical and sparse, and the acoustic That Was My Veil, written together with Parish and taken from the collaborative album between the two 'Dance Hall At Louse Point'. This Wicked Tongue, included as a ghost-track on "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea" (2000), assaults you scratchy and distorted, with the affected voice echoing and shouting, contrary to the delicate and melancholic Beautiful Feeling, also taken from Stories, here enriched by light piano touches.
The collection closes with You Come Through (from Uh Huh Her - 2004) recorded for the BBC as a tribute to Peel, which seems written especially for the lost friend: a moved and hopeful voice singing 'I'll take you my friend, I'll take you with me'.
Inside the booklet is a handwritten letter from the singer where we read the essence of the album: 'A way of saying 'thank you' once more. Thank You John'
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