PJ Harvey releases her 8th studio album titled Let England Shake. The new album is a conglomerate of idea’s bred from Harvey’s beloved England covering such topics as war, the nature of humanity, cultural references, and more. The spine of the album mostly focusing on England and its part in the history of all these idea’s. Unlike most albums that I review I only had to listen to Let England Shake once to know that something truly epic has arrived in 2011.

As the last song on the album comes to a close its safe to say that even in the silence there is still more to be heard. Despite being completely seduced by the blend of styles and instruments and vocal change ups throughout the album the messages are clear. Sitting here now the lyrics still ramble through my head enticing my mind to imagine the blood soaked beach fronts of Normandy, the barren desert battlegrounds of Iraq, the human conditions in which transpired these battles, the cultural damage brought on by such events. It’s a narrative on war but not. More like, this is a page from a history book that curbs the ugliness of all things unseen in war and sets an atmosphere for a time and place. Its hard to explain I guess but it reminds me a bit of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Its personal frustration, daydreams of a better humanity unresolved, anger and resentment, but packaged as nothing more then as precautionary tale. This is what was, this is what is, this is what could be. Lyrically this album is a gold mine of words.

After having reviewed Harvey’s last outing, PJ Harvey: White Chalk, an album that I absolutely hated, I was afraid maybe Harvey had lost her passion for making music and this was one of those slow steady declines into commercialism before ultimately ruining her reputation and cashing out of the business. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t thinking all that, but its been awhile since White Chalk was released. Instead what I find is an album that is extremely rich with sound. The entire album is vocally flawless with a very deep background sound. You’ve got horns, guitars, a steel drum I think. Its that crafty experimentation that PJ Harvey fans are used to. The album is also visited by long time associates Flood, John Parish, and Mick Harvey giving the album further depth and really giving the narrative a more accessible feel when necessary. At the same time I can’t help but wonder, with this album somewhat being an ode to England both good and bad, if the overall sound of the album isn’t an ode to England’s vast production of great bands as well. Guitars at times are reminiscent of Johnny Marr’s work from The Smiths, vocal style reminiscent of bands like Siouxie and The Banshees, Roger Waters, The Beatles. It could all be left to interpretation, your going to hear what you want to hear basically, but for me the album just never stops giving. There are doors unopened, lyrics never fully fathomed, sounds unheard (seriously get yourself some good earphones for this album). As far as I’m concerned this is the first album that matters this year. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.