PJ Harvey, White Chalk, 2007 - album

So, one of my Christmas gifts was PJ Harvey's White Chalk. I love love love PJ in general, but this is particularly awesome. The album is somehow richer than her previous stuff in its minimalism, maybe because it's so raw, so present, so intensely...empty.

I told my work friend PB - we like to talk music - that I think White Chalk is what Bjork was going for, but failed to achieve, with Vespertine. I like Vespertine well enough now, but it took years for me to warm up to it, and even now, I don't listen to it often. It's no glorious achievement like White Chalk, which somehow manages to stray from PJ's usual punkish power into this new melodic, beautiful, almost sweet, pages-from-her-diary work. Unlike Bjork, PJ relies on her instruments, especially her voice, not production, to say what she wants to say. And like crazy little Joanna Newsom, the spaces in her music sometimes say more than the layers.

Right now, I'm feeling melody more than rhythm anyway. Maybe I always do?

If you haven't heard White Chalk, get your hands on it. It is riveting, and it's distracting, so don't expect to just toss it on in the background at work. You'll find yourself stopping to actively listen - at least, I expect you will. And I'd like to hear what you think.