That enigmatic, gothic soulstress PJ Harvey is doing some very special shows later this year. This is following on from the release of her critically acclaimed eighth studio album ‘Let England Shake’. PJ Harvey has announced two new UK live shows for September, coming to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 4th and Manchester O2 Apollo on 8th.
PJ Harvey’s new album was recorded in a 19th Century church in Dorset, on a cliff-top overlooking the sea. It was created with a cast of musicians including such long-standing allies as Flood, John Parish, and Mick Harvey. It is the eighth PJ Harvey album, following 2007’s acclaimed ‘White Chalk’, and the Harvey/Parish collaboration ‘A Woman A Man Walked By’.
‘Let England Shake’ is a troubled and troubling album. It evokes the strange times we find ourselves in and also casts its mind back to times and places from our long collective memory. From the start, of her career PJ Harvey commanded attention. She formed the bass / drums / guitar trio in 1991 in Dorset, England and then began an impressive critical climb, which set the stage for a highly anticipated album release the following month. ‘Dry’ was hailed as an astonishing debut, not just in the UK but worldwide and especially in the United States, where Rolling Stone named Harvey Best Songwriter and Best New Female Singer.
Harvey is currently collaborating on various visual projects with the respected photo-journalist Seamus Murphy. Murphy, an award winning photographer, has spent over two decades uniquely documenting conflict through his lens. His work has brought him to Rwanda, Eritrea, Kosovo, Iran and Iraq. He has also spent extensive periods of time photographing Afghanistan, and his most recent book ‘A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan’ is a classic illustration of life in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban and the impact of U.S. invasion.
PJ Harvey has also announced festival appearances at Bestival and Electric Picnic ahead of the new shows. To see PJ Harvey this September:
September 4th Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 0141 353 8000
September 8th Manchester O2 Apollo 0844 477 7677
www.gigsandtours.com / www.pjharvey.net
