PJ Harvey "To Bring You My Love" Commentary

     "To Bring You My Love" has me completely baffled. It's the only PJ Harvey album to contain a proper hit, "Down By The Water". (Typical response to this song: "PJ Harvey? I thought that was Tori Amos.") Its pacing and mercilessly in-your-face production make this album an exercise in patience and puzzling. The opening title track is enough to turn off the casual listener, with stoner-rock slowness and Harvey's refusal to hurry the vocal progression. I'm not saying this is a bad album - I'm saying it's challenging and complicated.
     The ghost of the blues haunts this record. There are no turnarounds or classical blues structure, but Harvey's voice is smoky and sweet,  (She's clearly a siren of some kind.) and some of this music is sad, though none of it sounds angry or depressed - this is the music of survivors, not victims. However, there's no mistaking "To Bring You My Love" for anything but a rock and roll album, especially once we start the 2nd half of the album with the head-banging "Long Snake Moan". This song uses much the same pacing as the rest of the album, but we get to hear Harvey really open up her voice to show us her soulful side. Harvey's vocal performance coupled with a fantastic wall of noise reminiscent of other Flood-produced jams like Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight or Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" gives us maybe the best song on the album in "Long Snake Moan".
     I can't fault anyone who thought Tori Amos sang "Down By The Water." On this track, Harvey sings delicately about water and women over a cold electronic melody and a cello. It really would make a great Tori song.
     I've listened to "To Bring You My Love" a lot lately, trying to figure it out, and I still don't get it. There's a certain dark beauty in this music, but it's really very ethereal. I try to hear shapes and patterns in this music, but it morphs and sounds different the next time. I'm honestly not sure I entirely trust this album. There could be something very redemptive going on here, or there could be something monstrous.