Album Reviews

ALBUM REVIEW

Sue SiadatWed. October 24
 

PJ HARVEY ‘WHITE CHALK’ ISLAND

Polly Jean starts out dark with flourishes of Flamenco guitar on “The Devil,” which reminds me of her duet with Nick Cave for “Henry Lee” on his Murder Ballads. This album is so carefully produced, as clean as a seashell by the British seashore—I imagine her staring off a cliff as she sings—and she plays a piano that seems like the rust has gotten to the strings. And there’s a broken harp on “Broken Harp,” with PJ sounding like Joanna Newsom’s older wiser sister. She’s resigned yet hopeful on “Silence,” singing, “I freed myself from my family/I freed myself from work/I freed myself/I freed myself/And remained alone.” So is she still looking for love? On “The Piano,” she kisses everything goodbye with such deliberate enunciation that I can hear exactly where that line of chalk should be drawn.

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