Island Records (14 February 2011)
Rating: *****
It all started with PJ Harvey, Andrew Marr, an autoharp, and an ex-Prime Minister looking on wearily. This is how Let England Shake first came to people’s attention. While this may seem like a peculiar way to start promoting an album months from release, it makes sense in the context of the album. Let England Shake is not an album about the inner self, nor does it dissect Harvey’s own dark side; this is an album very much interested in this nation’s addiction to war and the tragic loss of life therein, as well as in England itself. By showcasing this album on the Andrew Marr show, Harvey was simply being as subversive as she ever was.
Lyrically, the album demonstrates the peculiar trait of the English to criticise deeply the very country that so many have fought for: ‘To you, England, I cling undaunted, never failing love for you England’, sings Harvey on ‘England’, a track that is as fragile as it beautiful. Much of the lyrical focus is on death and war; for example, in ‘On Battleship Hill’ we find Harvey’s voice multi-tracked and in that extraordinary high register, singing about the Battle of Gallipoli: ‘On Battleship Hill’s caved-in trenches, a hateful feeling still lingers, even now, 80 years later.’ It’s a beautiful track, but it barely touches the desolate tone of ‘All & Everyone’, which follows it. That song threatens to collapse under its own weight with repeated refrains of ‘death is all and everyone’ but, brilliantly, Harvey evokes a reggae beat halfway through, lifting the gloom before diving into ‘death hung in the smoke and clung to 400 acres of useless beachfront.‘
It is the war tracks that really seem to fly, with ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ oddly sprightly for a song that features lyrics such as ‘I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat.’ The arrangement of Harvey’s voice, trumpets, and playful male backing vocals add up to a truly special song. It even contains a joke of sorts, as her backing singers ask ‘what if I take my problem to the United Nations?’, knowing full well Gallipoli was fought in 1916, and the UN was founded decades later. We can all think back to the last time a problem was taken the United Nations, only to become a disaster for Britain when that problem became ours. Again, the English obsession with war comes into sharp focus, reminding us that we never seem to learn from our past.
It is almost impossible to describe just how immediately brilliant this album is; within three listens, you will be hooked on ‘The Glorious Land’ despite the intrusive trumpet, which signifies the dead. Perhaps it is the knowledge of what the trumpet stands for that allows the listener to accept it. Harvey won’t let us forget that war is terrible, but she must be congratulated for not falling into the trap of preaching to us or focusing solely on the present. By singing about past events, Harvey is able to transport us musically and historically. The whole album feels oddly English in its tone; if you listen closely, you can hear the rain beating down; you can smell the country air and hear the wind rustling gently. Best of all, you can sit back, think of England and remind yourself that for 50 minutes, PJ Harvey is the very best of what this country makes.
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