‘To Bring You My Love’: The album that reinvented PJ Harvey
On the title track of To Bring You My Love, PJ Harvey begins the album with the lines “I was born in the desert”, a reference to the words that open Captain Beefheart’s debut album, Safe As Milk. Her influences are circled out immediately, and she frequently alludes to her favourite musician throughout the rest of her third record. Just as he was known for his bizarre and experimental works, it feels like Harvey really gave into her weirder impulses here, and as a result, she asserted herself as a truly necessary artist.
Harvey released her first album, Dry, in 1992, which was well-received, with several of the record’s most catchy singles, like ‘Sheela-na-gig’ and ‘Dress’, earning frequent radio airplay. Working with Steve Albini, she made her next album, Rid of Me, which harnessed a heavier, more grunge-inspired sound. The project centred on Harvey’s feminist politics, a prominent theme in her work, with songs like ‘50ft Queenie’ and ‘Man-Size’ demonstrating this best.
Through these albums, Harvey communicated themes like female sexuality and desperate love, exploring desire and desperation with a raw and psychosexual essence. These two albums were made with the PJ Harvey Trio, which consisted of Harvey, Rob Ellis, and Steve Vaughan. However, with To Bring You My Love, Harvey went solo, instead calling on some other collaborators, such as Mick Harvey, Pete Thomas, and, of course, John Parish.
The album is striking and enthralling, with its constant allusions to religion, evil, sex, power, and femininity, often referencing songs by blues artists like Leadbelly. Using blues as one of her main inspirations, the album becomes melancholic and dark, and Harvey sings about experiencing the worst just to love someone and even the symbolic drowning of a child.
To Bring You My Love felt like a new chapter for Harvey, who leant on many characters and metaphorical roles to bring her songs to life. On the opening track, the instrumentation is sparse, with Harvey’s voice often straining – it’s so full of emotion and desperation that you can’t help but get completely swept up in it.
A pounding riff defines ‘Meet Ze Monsta’, which sees Harvey play around with her vocals, making it one of the heaviest songs on the record. She allows bass to take centre stage on ‘Working For The Man’, which simmers with mystery and allure. Harvey keeps the instrumentals and tempos of the songs on To Bring You My Love varied, making it incredibly memorable. However, the track remembered best is ‘Down By The Water’, an unconventional radio hit featuring addictive string plucking and a seductive yet twisted whispered end, where Harvey, yet again, references a classic blues number, ‘Salty Dog Blues’.
The singer tries out various personas throughout the album, all of which are preoccupied with evil, longing, or power – and she wears them well. These stories come to life perfectly due to Harvey’s fluid voice, which she warps to suit the tone of the track. On ‘C’mon Billy’ she uses a gravelly and desperate growl as she asks her lover to come home and meet his son, pleading, “Don’t forget me.”
By blending allusions to the devil, violence, pain, and control with femininity, love and sexuality, Harvey creates a compelling contrast that leaves it standing as one of her most accomplished works. The choice to go solo and experiment more than ever before allowed Harvey’s third album to prove her prowess even more, paving the way for her more daring musical choices in the years to come.
