Library Rock's Backpages

Inside the Hidden Heart of PJ Harvey (and John Parish)

Nick Hasted, The Independent, 27 March 2009

POLLY JEAN HARVEY and John Parish are sitting across from each other in a quiet hotel with the comfort of 20 years' acquaintance. Harvey, of course, is the star, the woman whose Mercury-winning album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) isn't even a career highlight. Her debut Dry (1992) marked her territory with roaring blues songs such as 'Sheela-Na-Gig', referencing Gaelic female church gargoyles with stretched-apart vaginas and mad grins. This wasn't going to be a ride for faint hearts. Harvey's peers over eight cussedly unpredictable albums have been the likes of her friend Thom Yorke, and Björk: musicians who have kept large, loyal audiences as they pilot pop careers into the avant-garde wilds.

Total word count of piece: 1469

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.