Her dynamic vocals and unconventional instrumentation jolt the listener right into the dichotomy of war: the subject Harvey tackles in her latest.

 PJ Harvey is an English singer-songwriter raised in Dorset and Somerset.  Her parents’ love for American blues was a main musical influence for Harvey growing up.  She is known for her radical changes in musical styles from album to album, including pop, rock n’ roll, folk and even electronic.

 Obscure might be the best way to describe the album in its entirety.  Each song is as hauntingly beautifu,l yet dark and heavy as the last.  Harvey’s change to a higher pitched tone, compared to 2007's “White Chalk”, gives her songs a contrast in themselves: no easy feat.

 Listeners may be surprised with Harvey’s more melodic approach to her war album, as she patriotically explores her home country of England in her most progressive way yet.

The first track, “The Words that Maketh Murder,” is characterized by a flood of guitar and drums with an eerie backdrop of chorus that repeats "These are the words.”  From there, the album only gets stranger and pushes Harvey’s creative boundaries even further. 

PJ Harvey fans might find a little more familiarity with the tune “All and Everyone,” but it takes a different turn midway through and her falsetto brings out the chills as she sings about lives being lost on the battlefield. 

The title track has more positive energy than many songs on her previous albums, yet Harvey’s brooding lyrics are just as powerful.  A short sample from “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" introduces the song and serves as a creative starting point for “Let England Shake”. 

Harvey’s duet “On Battleship Hill” captures the beauty and horror of nature all at once, as she sings, “Jagged mountains jutting out, cracked like teeth in a rotten mouth.”  The metaphorically saturated lyrics serve as a perfect complimentary piece to the preceding “Let England Shake”. 

One of her last songs, “Written on the Forehead,” provides a spectacular blend of the acoustic twangs of folk guitar and the syncopated rhythms and soothing melodic flow of reggae in one musical melt.

With an album as frighteningly beautiful and different as the last, PJ Harvey continues to dazzle listeners with her magnificent musical range and lyrical creativity.

Reach reporter Sarah here.