{"id":82796,"date":"2023-07-14T10:17:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T08:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=82796"},"modified":"2023-09-29T09:08:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T07:08:48","slug":"pj-harvey-i-inside-the-old-year-dying-album-review-and-tour-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2023\/07\/pj-harvey-i-inside-the-old-year-dying-album-review-and-tour-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"A SLIGHT RETURN – ‘I Inside The Old Year Dying,’ PJ Harvey’s First Album In Seven Years, Is A Spooky, Stripped Back, Ethereal Song Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I Inside The Old Year Dyin<\/strong>g<\/em>, PJ Harvey<\/strong>‘s first proper album in seven years follows a period of intense introspection. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the UK’s most original and successful artists, Harvey became so consumed by the endless merry-go-round of albums and tours that she felt she’d lost connection with her music.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As with 2016’s The Hope Six Demolition Project<\/strong><\/em>, she got her mojo working again by finding inspiration in her own verse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time it’s her narrative poem Orlam<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which draws heavily on the myths and folklore of her native Dorset, providing the impetus for her musical compositions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less immediate than her two big beasts; Mercury Music Prize <\/strong>winning albums Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea <\/i><\/span><\/strong>(2001) and Let England Shake <\/em><\/strong>(2011), I Inside…<\/em> is an altogether more fragile creature.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Otherwordly and ethereal – PJ Harvey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Crafted with longtime collaborators John Parish<\/strong> and producer Flood<\/strong>, it’s an intimate 12-song cycle, with an emphasis on spontaneity and minimalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvey sings mostly in a higher register, lending the songs an almost childlike innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Orlam<\/em>, the lyrics are in her own version of West Country vernacular, adding an otherworldly layer of mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostly played on acoustic guitar and piano, the songs are so sparsely arranged they sound like ancient found recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One concession to modernity is a whirring, murmuring electronica running through several of tracks, like a sinister engine lurking under the soil, which then bursts forth in the urgent primal, album closer A Noiseless Noise<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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