Starting the weekend with a set from PJ Harvey during Glastonbury 2024. Broadcast live and recorded by BBC 6 Music.
Perennial favorite – one of the true visionaries in contemporary music; someone whose art is profound and profoundly moving. I cannot imagine going through life not hearing her – not being affected in some way by anything she does.
I guess you could say this is what being a fan is all about – if being a fan means having your mind blown everytime you hit Play, then I am most definitely a fan. It’s the message and the method; the tonal colors and soundscapes blending with words – it is without a doubt PJ Harvey’s world.
And we’re fortunate to be witnesses and gladly go along on the journey.
A postscript from Wikipedia, just to let you know:
At an early age, she was introduced by her parents to blues music, jazz and art rock, which would later influence her: “I was brought up listening to John Lee Hooker, to Howlin’ Wolf, to Robert Johnson, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix and Captain Beefheart. So I was exposed to all these very compassionate musicians at a very young age, and that’s always remained in me and seems to surface more as I get older. I think the way we are as we get older is a result of what we knew when we were children.” Other influential artists were “Nina Simone, the Rolling Stones, people like that I grew up listening to but find I returned to”. During her teenage years, she began listening to new wave and synth-pop bands such as Soft Cell, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, although later stated that it was a phase when she was “having a bit of a rebellion against my parents’ record collection.” In her later teenage years, she became a fan of Pixies, and she then listened to Slint. She has named Bob Dylan, and Neil Young, when talking about her influences. Many critics have compared Harvey to Patti Smith, which Harvey dismisses as “lazy journalism”. However, recently Harvey has said that Smith is “so energizing to see and so passionate with what she’s doing”. Harvey has also cited Siouxsie Sioux in terms of live performance, stating : “She is so exciting to watch, so full of energy and human raw quality”. She has also drawn inspiration from Russian folk music, Italian soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, classical composers like Arvo Pärt, Erik Satie, Samuel Barber, and Henryk Górecki. As a lyricist, Harvey has cited numerous poets, authors and lyricists as influences on her work including Harold Pinter, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Ted Hughes and contemporaries such as Shane MacGowan and Jez Butterworth. Elvis Presley was also mentioned in her 2022 book Orlam and the 2023 single A Child’s Question, August.
Last Saturday before 2025 – press Play and celebrate.
