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Home > Music
White Chalk
Artists :
PJ Harvey
Tracks :
The Devil
Dear Darkness
Grow Grow Grow
When Under Ether
White Chalk
Broken Harp
Silence
To Talk To You
The Piano
Before Departure
The Mountain
| Release Date: |
02 October, 2007 |
| Manufacturer: |
Island |
| Availability: |
Usually ships in 24 hours |
| List Price: |
$13.98 |
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This carnival ride to the netherworld of the soul is PJ Harvey's most dizzyingly radical work since the raw pulse and grind of her 1993 debut. It's also entirely different. Harvey's created an emotionally fractured Gothic fairytale that rides on her spare, tattered piano playing and her voice, which she turns into a fragile siren's call: high, airy, and imperiled, and made otherworldly by a labyrinth of echo. Instead of pop tunes, Harvey offers an 11-song cycle that's the metaphorical story of a breakup in which the Devil, a drug-induced nightmare, and a seemingly bottomless pit of despair all play a part. At the end, in "The Mountain," her banshee wails conclude a journey so oblique it's worthy of David Lynch or Neil Gaiman. Flood, who co-produced Harvey's 1998 epic rock breakthrough Is This Desire? with her, reprises that role, but White Chalk is more chamber music--and a dark chamber at that. --Ted Drozdowski
 Customer Reviews 
"When under ether, the mind comes alive..."
Rating: 5
PJ Harvey's new album White Chalk is haunting, dark, and absolutely beautiful. All 11 tracks are piano ballads and for a woman who says she didn't know how to play piano before recording this album, she does a great job hiding it. The pianos and guitars are lush and dramatic. Her voice is soft, rich, and then goes into a high-scream pitch towards the end especially in the song, The Mountain. My only complaint about this album is the packaging it comes in. The flimsy cardboard case is disappointing, who's lame idea was that? The music is gorgeous and flows greatly. Standout tracks include: The Devil, Grow Grow Grow, When Under Ether, White Chalk, Silence, and The Piano. If you want an album that isn't radio friendly then White Chalk should fill the void. Happy listening!
Extremely tedious
Rating: 1
Good music is a synergy of lyrics and sound. Unfortunately, the sound is missing on this latest PJ Harvey release. Many of the songs sound the same and there is a spareness that speaks of self-indulgence. In the past, I rushed out and bought each of her releases without hesitation, but those days are over I'm afraid. Makes one think that even the best of artists are good for a half dozen or so albums and then the well runs dry. If anyone can recover from such a lapse, however, it will probably be her.
a long time before electricity
Rating: 5
a wonderful album, somewhere between Virginia Astley ("Love is lonely place to be") for the falsetto voice and acoustic orchestrations, and Nico ("the Marbel Index") for the dark inspiration of the lyrics...
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