The Top 20 Albums of 2011 - #6 - PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

The Top 20 Albums of 2011

#6 PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Words by Dirk Calloway

Preface: we're 14 days into my review series, which is drilling into my Top 20 Albums of 2011. I listened to something like 115 or so albums in 2011, and today we're looking at my sixth favourite of the lot. If you want to catch up on the past reviews, click this link here.

When I was 17, the type of people who liked - or knew of - PJ Harvey were well into their 20s. Consequently, she's always an air of "probably too awesome for me to ever understand", in the same way that I label groups like Portishead, Massive Attack and Pearl Jam. For years I felt assured I would never connect with her music. In 2011, on a plane from Sydney to Wellington, that changed. God bless Qantas, because they had Let England Shake in their on-demand music service. I listened to it with an air of 'the cool kids like her stuff, so I'll try to be like them', but within a few moments I realised this record was the first of hers that I could claim for me. I got it! I understood! Check out that first song: 

It was like a modern day London Calling: anarchic, off-putting, and incredibly alert. It pulled me out of my Economy Class stupor, and I knew that this album's brilliance would depend on the next song after it. Thankfully, Harvey delivers the goods. Each track on this record is a keeper. There's no filler, just killer. And I do mean killer. Check out The Words That Maketh Murder:

That song is my favourite on the album. The lyrics are haunting, as is the vocal delivery and the backing harmonies. "I've seen a corporal whose nerves are shot" ... "soldiers fell like lumps of meat". Oh god, what a song. It's an album that screams 'we're living a comfortable life, while there's some seriously messed up things going on out there in the world. Our boys are coming back in body-bags.' That song ends with a query, "what if I take my problem to the United Nations?" The horrible implication by its repetition is that your problem could take a little while to get resolved, or even heard. Let England Shake is a bitter pill to swallow, but you'll feel like a better person for doing so.

The record itself won the prestigious Mercury Prize, and 16 major publications declared it "album of the year." That The Guardian, NME, Mojo, The Washington Post and many many more all thought it the best of the bunch is a pretty damn good endorsement. It's a fantastic record, and you really should check it out. You can stream it here.

Thanks for reading another entry in this ongoing series. Tomorrow we look into the Top 5! Excite. Click this link to catch up on the entries you've missed.