Published on Feb 13, 2004
It would be unfair to expect artists to convey only one emotion
to their audience. The New Pornographers shouldn’t have to release
happy music all the time, just because their first two albums were
pop ecstasy. If Trent Reznor falls in love, he should do an album
about the experience if he thinks it would be a good subject. After
all, love changes an artist — case in point with PJ Harvey.
In the angst-ridden ’90s, Harvey was the queen of angst;
producing the back-to-back classics
Rid Of Me and
To Bring You My Love. Greatness took its toll on Harvey,
however. In an interview in
Rolling Stone, Harvey said she never wanted to be in the
emotional state that she was in when she recorded
To Bring You My Love. So in 2000, Harvey moved overseas to
New York City. She also fell in love. The two major changes
resulted in
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea.
The album’s rich elegance draws images of late-night parties on
rooftops, cab rides through Manhattan and falling into “Good
Fortune” with a new relationship full of possibilities. It’s easily
Harvey’s sunniest album. Still, there’s plenty of dark corridors
awaiting listeners. PJ Harvey at her most cheerful is still darker
than the most angry Alanis Morissette record.
As a rock album,
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is amazingly
consistent. “Good Fortune” is great AOL rock material and the
shredding “Kamikaze” would have fit in perfect with her earlier
works. Hell, Fox even played guitar riffs from “Big Exit” to hype
the NFL playoffs in 2001. For any other artist,
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea would have been
a crowning achievement. But not every artist is PJ Harvey.
As consistent, enjoyable and flat out rocking as
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is, it is also
the first PJ Harvey that is relatively free of danger for the
listener. Every album she released before
Stories, was a major turning point. Dry was the debut that
announced her talent,
Rid of Me was menstruation punk at its creative peak,
To Bring You My Love was her masterpiece and Is This Desire
was just plain weird — in the best of ways. Each turn you didn’t
know what to expect with a PJ Harvey album. And with Stories, it
was the first of her albums where a seasoned PJ Harvey listener
wasn’t exactly bowled over by her boldness. Even her duet with Thom
Yorke on “This Mess We’re In” seems more like a hipster marriage of
talent than a truly great song that utilizes both of their
gifts.
Still, Stories is far from treading water. PJ Harvey celebrated
the joys of uprooting herself and falling in love. She also had her
share of haunting ballads, namely the ghostly closing track “We
Float.” Stories may be a standard rock album, but Harvey can still
make even a traditional rock album sound as dangerous as falling
head over heels in love.