PJ Harvey “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea” (Best of the Decade)
A funny thing happened when I dropped the needle for the first time on PJ Harvey’s brilliant 2000 album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea; I heard Thom Yorke’s voice floating through the speakers first before I even heard Polly’s. At the time I thought that this was a completely innovative and challenging move by Harvey, putting the vocals of one of the most recognizable front men in modern rock at the start of your own record (one that many view as her best, myself included) before finally chiming in during the chorus a minute into the song. Of course, I had mistakenly put Side B on the platter instead of the Side A, and heard the beautifully haunting “The Mess We’re In” first, rather than the album’s true lead off track, the ironically titled “Big Exit.” But my error doesn’t make the album any less inventive and fresh as Stories is not only my favorite album ever by a female artist, it’s one of my all-time favorite albums period. It’s a confident, mature record from one of the most original voices in music today, and an album that found Harvey not only realizing the promise that had been hinted at through many brilliantly raw releases up to that point. It also garnered her the acclaim and recognition (she won the Mercury Music Prize for Stories, as well as two Grammy nominations) that she so richly deserved.
The songs on the album are taut and flawless, with the energy and intensity of her earlier songs meshing exquisitely with elegant melodies and enormous hooks and choruses. There is a sublime and seamless blend between the grimy cityscape settings of her songs and the dreamy seaside tranquility of Harvey’s home in Dorset, which is hinted at quite obviously in the album’s title. And of course, having Yorke contribute vocals on two tracks never hurts, either. But Harvey is clearly the star of the show throughout this masterpiece, easily going from the piercing, potent edge of “The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore” and “Kamikaze” to the more subtle grace and splendor of “A Place Called Home” and “Horses In My Dreams.” The songs are strong and stirring throughout the entire record, without a real lemon in the bunch, and Harvey’s songwriting is simply polished and perfect. And by the time the final strains of the gorgeous “We Float” played out, I was breathless and completely blown away. This is a record that really ushered in the 21st century for me, musically, and still remains one of the most consistently stunning and impeccable albums I have ever heard.