PJ Harvey & John Parish “Black Hearted Love”
PJ Harvey is back, recording again with longtime collaborator John Parish on the forthcoming A Woman A Man Walked By, their first full-length record together since 1996′s outstanding Dance Hall At Louse Point. “Black Hearted Love” is the first single (and track) from that record, due out March 30th, and finds Polly back on familiar ground after the spare, mostly acoustic soul-bearing of White Chalk, singing over a driving rhythm and a sinister bluesy electric guitar riff. Harvey’s vocals are sultry and steady, and she really unleashes in the frenzied chorus that brings to mind Stories From The City-era Polly Jean. The ten-track album was once-more produced by Flood, who has manned the dials, along with Parish, on nearly all of Harvey’s records. The duo are set to play a show at SXSW on March 21st, and are hitting LA and New York for two shows before heading back for a sold-out UK and European tour. Here’s to hoping that they announce a full-scale US tour after that, because Polly Jean is always up to something interesting, and her music has been captivating me for years. It’s simply been too long since she’s played a show in Minneapolis (her last headlining gig was at First Avenue in 2004). And if this song is any indication, A Woman A Man Walked By will be yet another in a long line of stellar, engrossing records in Harvey’s brilliant catalog. (via)
Man, that guitar is thick… hopefully this is some indication of how the rest of the album will sound. How rad has 2009 been?!
Solid track, agree this could fit right in with “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea”, – one of the best releases of this entire decade.
Polly’s lyrics and voice gorgeous as usual! Love Parish’s heavy guitar arrangement and atmospherics Flood added as the song plays out.
oh maaaan what a tease! can not wait.
the eeriness of white chalk was beautiful, but lower register pj vocals are always welcome.