| Polly Jean Harvey and John Parrish
Where does she get this from??? In interviews, Polly Jean Harvey is a genuinely warm, fun, and inquisitive personality. She'd just as soon swap vegetable gardening tips or chat about the British soap Eastenders (to which she's addicted) than actually talk music. Let her loose on album, however, and she turns into this unhinged harpy of a woman, pouring out more heartache in one gasp than Alanis Morrisette ever will in her career. To Bring You My Love was the closest she had ever come to something like "pop friendliness," but Dance Hall at Louse Point takes several steps back from that brink. This is not a new PJ Harvey release proper, but rather a project with Polly's lyrics and John Parrish's music. Parrish co-produced To Bring You My Love, and this album is basically in the same vein, though it highlights the more quiet, burning moods of that album. Organs, strings, low-fi drums, and strange bluesy guitar bits surface throughout, all of them played by Parrish. Mick Harvey from the Bad Seeds guests on one track, and is not at all out of place. And Polly? On two sperate occasions ("City of No Sun" and "Taut") her vocals make you stop and stare at your speakers, as she screams banshee style in the former, and rasps in a babble while breathing down your neck in the latter. The rest of the time she's just quietly unhinged. The lyrics are also in the vein of her last album, dark tales of burning love and obsession, with themes of sin and redemption mixed in. In short, it's what To Bring You My Love would have sounded like stripped of all pretences towards smooth production. If this album soundtracked Wild at Heart it would have been an even weirder movie. Much like Polly's 4 Track Demos, this is scary stuff, requiring a special type of mood to listen to and appreciate. If you can, it's a worthwhile journey. --by Greg Krafchick, Imprint staff |
