It’s been seven years since PJ Harvey ordained us with a new record, and her chameleonic disposition for reinvention is laid bare from the start of I Inside. From the outset, it is clear that once more, this is a record, unlike anything Harvey has done before.
The work is closely tied to Orlam, an in-verse novel that guides readers through Harvey’s homelands of Dorset through a succession of poems and short tales. Harvey tells of sheep in fields and rural pubs, with a colloquial vernacular and dialect that is sometimes hard to pin down, but is utterly magical in equal measure. This latest record explores these themes even further, seeing Harvey explore occult themes and tell tales of magic and wander — far from the tales of goblins and wizards you might find in early Led Zeppelin tunes, Harvey delves into these themes of rural spirituality with lyrical precision and a deft touch, but simultaneously PJH explores themes of her own rural childhood, schooling and upbringing.
Throughout I Inside Harvey manages to expertly blur the lines of humanity and creator, with a recurring character, “Wyman Elvis”, occupying a Christlike, holy role drawn directly from Harvey’s poetry. Themes of rebirth are prescient throughout, especially on the record’s title track, though rebirth is a recurring theme throughout Harvey’s career, regularly reinventing herself musically and exploring the depths of numerous genres.
Consistently, this record makes the listener feel like a fly on the wall of such a personal piece — this is assisted by the often sparse instrumentation, with Harvey often delivering her lines at a whisper, above little more than brushed drums and strings. ‘Lwonesome Tonight ’[sic] is a highlight, with Harvey and her assembled band playing out an Americana ‘The Band’ style number, with lyrics exploring everything from the contents of packed lunch to woodland sexual awakenings.
To preface this album, and make it make a semblance of sense, you should first try and wrap your head around Orlam. The collection of poems and Dorset dialect short stories preface this album wonderfully and provide some much-needed context and an introduction to the world Harvey is creating here. Without it, the record is complex and cryptic, or possibly impenetrable to a more casual PJ Harvey listener.
Folk tales and winding tales of rural life are certainly not what you might have expected from Polly Jean’s latest offering, but she makes it work. Only someone with the inherent mystique and musicality of Harvey could pull something like this off. ‘A Noiseless Noise’, the closer, is probably as close to “vintage” PJ that we get on this record, with her crunchy guitar set to a wall of feedback and driving percussion — perhaps a chaser of a track to inform the next musical step? Who knows. ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ is a record that you have to sit with, and be happy to immerse yourself in — it will likely make very little sense the first time around, but once you get your head around the lyrical quirks and the stripped-bare instrumentation, suddenly everything falls into place quite beautifully.
Written by Charlie Brock