First Review! PJ Harvey, WHITE CHALK

In order to make these reviews fresh, I decided to head to my Local Library and grab some new material. After dropping my surely overdue materials into the treacherous slot (which I'm convinced is the reason for most of the jewel case damage in the Lib's CD section), I trot down to the basement.

I made it harder on myself by sliding in roughly a half hour before closing, meaning that I can't stand around ruminating for my first review subjects.

So I get it in my head that I need to quickly select various artists, in terms of style, background, decade, blah to the third power. However, I've learned from a certain math/FBI show that trying to make things random usually blows up in your face (in a numb3r of ways). So I tried to be natural and do what I had done the previous summer/fall and just pick up what caught my eye.

One cubic handful later, I see that my first batch is dominated by albums released in this decade, and mostly female artists. In the interest of diversity, I jet over to the paltry Non-Pop Rock section and fumble through the Internationals for some male world music. Feeling I'd put enough on my plate for the time being, I proceeded towards my other errands and left the library, to return (hopefully) with seven reviews under my belt.

With my loot sitting in front of me at home, I make a quick decision for the guinea pig album, the first of the first. I decide to pick PJ Harvey's White Chalk, released in 2007 off of Island Records.

I grabbed Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000) about a month ago, and was captured by Polly Jean Harvey's ferocity and full-bodied hard rock sound, especially on tracks like “Big Exit” and “The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore”. My expectations were that of a contemplative singer-songwriter with shades of the Tori Amos era. Instead, I got what Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders wishes she still sounded like.

The memorable impression she made on me must be the explanation for taking out two PJ albums at once, since I had an idea that this Brit was more versatile than she initially seemed. White Chalk has definitely not disappointed me in that respect. As soon as the opening track, “The Devil”, started creeping into my ears, I knew that I had a different type of album on my hands. She maintains her ability to harness emotion by fluctuating dynamics. Her quiet valleys set up the more powerful peaks with the ease of a gifted artist.

PJ exhibits her ability to sing with that soft, haunting voice that is more common nowadays (think Feist or even Norah Jones). However, these songs lack the playful idiosyncrasy of Feist or the one-dimensional nature of Ms. Jones. Another distinguishing hallmark that proves she isn't trying to capitalize on the style of the day is her quasi-falsetto when she reaches the higher registers. Now I know from an old music teacher that women don't have falsettos, but if you've heard it, you know what I'm talking about. She also puts some persona into her voice for certain songs in order to add character to the particular track. “When Under Ether” is sung with an almost child-like ring to it. Since the lyrics strongly imply an abortion-like experience, you then get the idea that the words are coming from a younger woman or teenager. After I figured this out, the song became extremely hard to shake.

PJ's vocals, paired with effective, minimal instrumentation, create a consistent melancholy tone throughout the album. Thankfully, PJ has explored multiple flavors of this tone, and in doing so prevents herself from making White Chalk boring or repetitive.

I feel like I can't quite put this album in its proper context, since I'm not fully versed in PJ Harvey's catalog. Even so, I get the sense that these uniquely spare and ghostly tunes are even better once enjoyed in context. I can't wait to get to that point because I'm already loving this album; I can't imagine what it'll sound like to me after I get into Uh Huh Her. Here's hoping for good things.