PJ Harvey : "I Inside the Old Year Dying"

Harvey's 10th album and first since 2016 has according to her been a long time in the making. It opens with an introspective atmosphere. For 53 her voice sounds great. The second song is more upbeat, with percussion moving it and layered vocals creating an odd harmony. Not rock, but it's an effective song for what she does so I can go with it. There is more of an Irish folk feel to "Lonesome Tonight" It is another delicate melody that casts a reflection of who she is today, which might not be the same woman who has brought us gritty grunge grooves soaked in blues. She muses Elvis and Jesus on this one and I am fine with that as well. She is making attempts to blend with the current musical climate, and remains a more outsider, though one with a less street-tough exterior. 

She begins to flirt with rock music again on "Seem an I", it carries more of a 60s folk feel. Of the first four songs, this sounds the closest to the Harvey of the 90s. The first song that feels bears Flood's touch as a producer is "The Nether-edge" which finds her vocals run through a ping-pong delay while still retaining it's clarity. The title track is her banging it out with a heavy-handed strum on an acoustic. John Parrish of the Bad Seeds, is adding ambiance throughout the album, but his thumbprint is most defined here. Not her catchiest song, but it works for what it does. "All Souls" finds her experimenting with ambient sounds to sing over. More droning than dynamic in the bleak picture it paints. 

"A Child's Question, August" has perhaps more form and function in the was it coasts almost like dream pop. It took a couple of listens to the song " I Inside the Old I Dying" to wrap my head around it. It has a little more drive, but is steeped in moodiness. If Radiohead wrote a children's song the results might be similar. 'August" works off a similar vibe, though perhaps more folky. It took a second listen to really let my ears settle into the song. You can hear not only in this song , but many others Elvis themes in the lyrics. There are many themes swirling on this album and that is just one of them. Some of them are seen in the song titles which are often variations of previous song titles that appeared earlier in the album. "A Child's Question, July" is an example of this. Her vocals patterns are more abstract than the punchy deliver of her 90s rock songs. When it comes to recalling her classic days , there is a hint of that on the last song. It took a few listens for it to click with me. I will give this album a 9.5 and see how it sits with me, as of right now it finds her at a place that makes sense for who she is, and this is clearly the album she wanted to make.