PJ Harvey, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea Reviews

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Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea is PJ Harvey's Mercury Music Prize winning album and is an absolute gem of a record. Written half in New York City and half in Dorset it sounds like a record Patti Smith would make if she were 20 years younger and just hitting her stride, as it's all insistent female vocals and urgency and has PJ in fine form, and even sounding positive at times. There's also a couple of duets with Thom Yorke of Radiohead, which are lovely.

PJ Harvey is one of the most intriguing singer-songwriters around now, able to blend acoustic loveliness with angry, dissonant shouting rock, sometimes on the same track, and capable of using her voice to shocking effect. She is tender, intense, angsty and wise and if you're just discovering her then this album is as good a place as any to start.