No two PJ Harvey albums sound alike. You could be tricked into thinking that PJ Harvey does it on purpose - try on new genres and styles. However, I have long come to realise that this is not, in fact, the case. Because all that matters is that she is an artist, plain and simple. A consummate artist, an artist through and through.
At this point in her evolution, we find herself exploring the woods of Dorset. I Inside The Old Year Dying is a collection of songs based on her 12 poems taken from the book "Orlam" (written in mildly impenetrable Dorset vernacular). The lyrics are fascinating, or the bits and pieces that you could actually discern in that wild forest of evocative imagery and unexpected references to Elvis Presley and William Shakespeare. The key is not to get scared but, rather, try to immerse into the experience as it unfolds before you.
In its essence, I Inside The Old Year Dying is a folk album with certain post-rock elements woven into it. It could sometimes sound uninviting, and even challenging, but further listens reveal beautiful and nuanced songwriting. Alongside melodies that welcome you ("A Child's Question, August", title song), there are less immediate pieces that get off on haunting vocals, sparse atmosphere, unsettling instrumentation and thus require your undivided attention ("Prayer At The Gate", "All Souls"). The album is an intriguing and inspiring listen, but also an anxious and uncomfortable one. It is, perhaps, everything that art should be.
Oddly, in her book of illustrations from around the time when she released Let England Shake, she drew a group of characters standing at the exact same spot at different periods of time. Oddly, because you could not think of an idea further removed from the true essence of this particular artist. PJ Harvey never stands still. Against the backdrop of her protean career, it is the time that seems heavy-footed and slow.
