lambchops's Full Review: To Bring You My Love by PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is a strange little English woman. She embodies all that is right about rock music. With an “I don’t care” attitude, she freely frequents the subjects of sex, love, and religion. Her music is starkly honest and full of emotions that typify her songs.
Originally PJ Harvey was just a member of a self-named trio. Now, she’s a solo artist with some critically successful albums to her name. Her debut was 1992’s Dry, but it was with her follow-up that she first gained notoriety. 1993’s Rid Of Me was both noisy and full of traditional punk attitude. Harvey’s third full-length album was 1995’s To Bring You My Love. It seemed that at the release of this CD, she had finally found her niche. The place in which she could best shine.
To Bring You My Love featured Harvey playing many of her own instruments in addition to singing. It also has more than just traditional alternative music instrumentation, there are elements of electronica, blues, punk, and jazz. All of these parts combine nearly seamlessly into one final project. I would have to say that this album is Harvey’s best to date (she’s released two more albums in the past five or so years). Perhaps the best example is this…Spin Magazine ranked this album third out of the ninety best albums of the last decade. An amazing feat…especially considering that you probably haven’t heard her music…
As with many other listeners, my first experience with Harvey was with her college radio hit single ”Down By the Water”. The song is bluesy with a growling bass line that’s very much in contrast to Harvey’s girlish, resonant voice. The song is both depressing and amazing at the same time. You can’t stop listening to her lyrics and the amazing sounds. There are primal and tribal sounds that keep the beat in addition even less traditional electronic noise. It’s a great track. Definitely worth your time. There’s a very interesting time during the song where Harvey whispers the words. This is the best part of the song…it’s refreshing and soothing yet somehow unnerving.
Little fish, big fish, swimming in the water.
Come back here, man, gimme my daughter.
The title track is a wonderful introduction to this eclectic Englishwoman’s album. It begins with a strumming blues guitar and a faint electronic feel. Harvey’s voice is very emotional in this track. She sings very lowly and very quietly despite the fact that you can tell she’s really very angry about something. You can tell Harvey has an amazing rock voice…it’s guttural and for that matter very masculine in ”To Bring You My Love”. This is a great tune.
”Meet Zee Monsta” is another rocking tune. It’s got very heavy electric guitars. In fact, the music almost manages to drown out PJ Harvey’s growling voice. This is a good enough song, although she’s got better on this album and on others for that matter. Although, I wouldn’t rush to skip the track. Do at least give it a try.
The drums drive the song ”Working For the Man”. Harvey whispers and mumbles her way through the first verse of the song. It’s a very low key arrangement with the echoing voice as the centerpiece. The instruments are very soft…if they were any louder it would be nearly impossible to hear Harvey as a result of her odd singing style. This is a strange little track, emotional too. She sounds so sad and so depressed…it makes me feel bad for her. Listen, and you’ll understand what I mean.
I like ”C’mon Billy”. It’s a track driven simply by and acoustic guitar and Harvey’s voice. Unlike the last track, she sings out loud and with a strong blues growl. This is, hands down, one of the best tracks of the album. The song is driving and emotional, but Harvey adds her own little touch of scarred femininity. It’s a song about love, and trying to keep love even after it’s done.
Another soft, yet emotional song is the blues-influenced ”Teclo”. It’s a bit odd considering Harvey distorts her voice to be as low as possible. It’s just odd. I don’t really enjoy the song really, it’s just an exercise in being weird. What I do like is the next track, ”Long Snake Moan”. The song begins like what I would expect from Garbage. Actually, the entire song could have been sung by the Scottish Shirley Manson. It’s a loud, mid-tempo rock fest. It is in the top four or so songs on this album.
Harvey switches gears again for ”I Think I’m A Mother”. Her range is apparent with the range of her emotions and creativity on this album and within each song (including this one). This is the emotional exploration into the mind of a mother…or at least a soon to be mother with a deadbeat boyfriend. Harvey’s voice is again slow, methodical, and quietly explosive. My only problem with this track is that the bass guitar is louder than Harvey’s vocals. I want to be able to hear her more clearly. She is a talented alternative princess.
I like the guitars in ”Send His Love To Me”. The song begins by sounding very much like the folk-rock from the 1960’s. Harvey warbles her way through this amazing track. She flexes her vocal chords and ends up sounding like an angel. It’s a song about love and religion…two common themes in Harvey’s songs. This is an outstanding example of Harvey’s talent. I love this track. There are guitars, tambourines, a string quartet, and Harvey’s own instrument….her voice.
The final track is entitled ”The Dancer”. What a wonderful way in which to wrap up an outstanding album. She sounds again like a crouched animal growling at the world. It’s an epic song with a classic sound. You can’t go wrong with it. This is exceptional music from an artist. This song is very much worth your time and your stereo. Here’s a lyrical sample:
Cause I've cried days, I've cried nights
For the lord just to send me up some sign
Is he near? Is he far?
Bring peace to my black and empty heart
As you can tell, PJ Harvey is a wonderful singer. She was often mixed up with Liz Phair in the mid nineties. But, today I would like to compare her more to the beautiful and consistent Tori Amos. However you look at Harvey, it’s obvious that she is a special talent and that if allowed to continue making music she will continue to grow toward the sun.
I recommend this track to all listeners, but especially to people who enjoy female alternative singers and songwriters. She’s very special, and if you don’t yet have her album in your collection don’t hesitate to pick it up from the record store. I will only give this album 4/5 stars. It’s worth a bit more, but I’d still like to give Harvey the opportunity to produce something even more special (even though this is an amazing album).
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