Courtney Love’s favourite PJ Harvey album
While the 1990s were dominated by various genres and musical movements, from grunge to Britpop and shoegaze, PJ Harvey was doing her own thing, crafting a world entirely idiosyncratic.
With her first song, ‘Dress’, the singer established herself as capable of making music with both memorable hooks and playful yet potent lyricism. Exploring femininity and the expectations of being a woman, Harvey would continue these themes into much of her future work, although she has consistently experimented with her instrumentals.
While Rid of Me took inspiration from grunge and blues, with many huge riffs and punk-influenced, upbeat cuts, Is This Desire? felt more tender. With Let England Shake and her most recent album, I Inside The Old Year Dying, Harvey has tapped into more atmospheric and folk-influenced sounds, evolving her music without losing the spark that made her so beloved in the first place.
Harvey has gathered many famous fans over the years, including Thom Yorke, who collaborated with her on Stories From The City, Stories From the Sea, along with Courtney Love. It is unsurprising that the latter is a huge fan of Harvey’s work, having explored many similar themes in her work with Hole. The musician released four albums with the band, who were a prominent part of the initial grunge movement, with their second record, Live Through This, becoming a landmark record.
The album explored the experiences of being a woman with extreme precision. Love was honest, even if it meant writing lyrics that were very raw and vulnerable. Similarly, Harvey has often penned lyrics that present femininity in all of its forms, touching on the patriarchal pressures placed upon women, desperate love, and sex. Both songwriters often use visceral language, which has been highly refreshing and pioneering.
For Love, speaking via Spin magazine, her favourite PJ Harvey album is Dry, the musician’s debut. Released in 1992, the album contains songs like ‘Dress’, ‘Sheela-na-gig’, ‘O Stella’, and ‘Oh My Lover’. It’s a compelling record, with unforgettable riffs and predominantly upbeat alt-rock cuts. Yet, the best part is, of course, Harvey’s vocal presence. She sings of being criticised by a man for being an “exhibitionist” after trying to get his attention, struggling to walk in tight dresses, giving her all to a man – even if he wants someone else, and exploring the underworld.
Harvey uses lots of natural imagery when singing about womanhood and sexuality, emphasising the innate and baseline instincts of being a woman. Her use of bold and provocative language unsurprisingly attracted the attention of Love, who admires Harvey’s similar approach to lyric writing.
Love once stated during an interview with The Guardian, “The one rock star that makes me know I’m shit is Polly Harvey. I’m nothing next to the purity that she experiences,” adding that “I always knew she was better than me, and I liked that. I like knowing that there is someone who is a better guitar player, who had it down lyrically and kicked my ass all over town.”
Evidently, Love deeply admires Harvey. She has even covered ‘To Bring You My Love’ from Harvey’s album of the same name various times – a testament to her love for the artist.
