27-06-2008

ATHENSPLUS • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008
ΜUSIC
PJ Harvey returns for solo set,
backed by her most tranquil album
The British indie great, currently performing alone, plays one show this Monday at the Badminton Theater in Athens
PJ Harvey’s more recent performances reflect the quieter ways of her latest,
piano-based album ‘White Chalk.’
BY GEORGE KOLYVAS
One of the most interesting things
about the British songstress PJ
Harvey has been her ongoing willingness
to explore new musical avenues,
while maintaining a distinctive
identity ever since her arrival
in the early 90s.
Following a number of appearances
here, all full-on rock affairs,
Harvey returns for a sparser solo
performance on June 30 at the capital’s
Badminton Theater.
The upcoming solo show, which
has generated glowing reviews for
previous dates, reflects the artist’s
most recent and quietest album to
date, this year’s “White Chalk.”
Equipped with guitar, piano,
keyboards and autoharp, Harvey is
expected to deliver material from
“White Chalk,” as well as selections
from previous albums.
Harvey, who is now based in the
Back to her roots
After years of big-city
dwelling, PJ Harvey has
returned to her English
countryside roots
tranquillity of the English countryside,
where she was raised, is currently
performing sporadic European
dates.
These days, Harvey programs
her touring schedules as she pleases,
which she says provides her
greater satisfaction and, by extension,
tends to bring better performances
out of her.
The English songwriter’s past has
indicated a fragility needing precaution.
Back in the mid 90s, following
the release of “To Bring You
My Love,” her mainstream breakthrough,
and shortly after Harvey
performed in Athens for the first
time, the ultra-thin artist canceled
the rest of her tour.
There were also reports of a
near-breakdown while Harvey was
preparing to release her follow-up
to 1992’s extremely well-received
debut album “Dry.” At the time, the
musician had moved to London
from Dorset in England’s southwest,
where she grew up and
emerged as an exciting new
prospect.
Over the years, PJ Harvey’s acclaimed
albums have explored the
themes of sex, love and religion with
unnerving honesty, dark humor and
a twisted theatricality.
These days, following years of bigcity
living in London, Bristol and Los
Angeles, Harvey has returned to her
countryside roots.
Career highlights
Early years
PJ Harvey formed a bass-drumsguitar
trio for her debut single,
“Dress,” which was released in
1991 on the independent label
Too Pure. A second single
release, “Sheela-Na-Gig,”
released early the following year,
generated anticipation for the
act’s debut album, “Dry,” a
month later, which was
internationally hailed as an
astonishing debut.
Next step
PJ Harvey signed to Island
Records in 1993 and began work
on a follow-up with noted sound
engineer Steve Albini (Pixies,
Nirvana) in the studio. Released
early in 1993, “Rid of Me” was
supported by a lengthy world
tour and earned Harvey her first
Mercury Prize nomination in the
UK. The trio dissolved soon after.
Mainstream
breakthrough
PJ Harvey broke through to a
wider audience with 1995’s “To
Bring You My Love,” an eclectic
album co-produced with Flood
and featuring keyboardist Eric
Drew Feldman, guitarist Joe Gore
and Mick Harvey from Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds. The tour that
followed introduced a theatrical
aspect to Harvey’s stage
persona. Mercury Prize and
Grammy nominations ensued.
Award winner
“Stories From the City, Stories
From the Sea,” released late in
2000 with Rob Ellis and Mick
Harvey in the studio, earned PJ
Harvey the Mercury Music Prize,
making her the first female artist
to win the much-coveted British
award.
Collaborations
Besides her eight album releases
to date, PJ Harvey has
collaborated with a diverse range
of artists, such as Thom Yorke,
Nick Cave, Tricky, Howe Gelb –
best know for numerous albums
as Giant Sand – Frenchman
Pascal Comelade, Gordon Gano
of the Violent Femmes and
Sparklehorse.
Even so, “White Chalk,” the songwriter’s
first piano-based album, a
stark contrast, especially in terms
of intensity, to her bruisingly powerful
early work, is not the result of
Harvey’s return to the English
countryside, she explained in a recent
interview.
A collection of her quietest songs
to date – the album includes performances
from Eric Drew Feldman,
who also appeared in Harvey’s “To
Bring You My Love” album, and Jim
White, drummer of the acclaimed
Australian instrumental trio Dirty
Three – “White Chalk,” Harvey
said, was written while she was still
living in Los Angeles.
Harvey, who took up guitar and
saxophone as an 11-year-old, while
growing up in a household possessing
a considerable music collection,
only started playing the piano,
the main instrumental element
of “White Chalk,” three years ago.
This occurred by chance, after a
friend who was moving left behind
a piano.
“If you don’t possess particular
knowledge about something, this
often liberates you, because it allows
your imagination to function more,”
Harvey recently noted about her
self-perceived lack of musicianship.
“If you’re not a good instrumentalist,
you have the advantage
of being able to react emotionally,
rather than intellectually.”
The approach, which has prompted
Harvey to incorporate a number
of similar-minded contributing musicians
to her projects over the
years, helps explain the diversity of
her sound from one album to the
next.
Ticket info:
June 30, 10 p.m., Badminton
Theater, Athens. Tickets (40, 55, 60 &
80 euros) on sale at Virgin Megastores,
the venue’s box office, and online at
www.ticketnet.gr.
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