White Chalk - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
This carnival ride to the netherworld of the soul is PJ Harvey's most dizzyingly radical work since the raw pulse and grind of her 1993 debut. It's also entirely different. Harvey's created an emotionally fractured Gothic fairytale that rides on her spare, tattered piano playing and her voice, which she turns into a fragile siren's call: high, airy, and imperiled, and made otherworldly by a labyrinth of echo. Instead of pop tunes, Harvey offers an 11-song cycle that's the metaphorical story of a breakup in which the Devil, a drug-induced nightmare, and a seemingly bottomless pit of despair all play a part. At the end, in "The Mountain," her banshee wails conclude a journey so oblique it's worthy of David Lynch or Neil Gaiman. Flood, who co-produced Harvey's 1998 epic rock breakthrough Is This Desire? with her, reprises that role, but White Chalk is more chamber music--and a dark chamber at that. --Ted Drozdowski

Album Description
White Chalk is PJ HARVEY's eighth studio album and first new material since 2004's critically acclaimed Uh Huh Her. PJ Harvey went into the studio late last year to record and produce with Flood and John Parish. The three had worked together previously on the GRAMMY nominated To Bring You My Love and on Is This Desire?. White Chalk also includes musical contributions from Harvey's long time associate Eric Drew Feldman, and Jim White from The Dirty Three.

The album highlights PJ Harvey's incredible ability to consistently create a unique, yet always impactful experience with each new album. Her talents as a songwriter, musician, and producer have never been as powerful, or profound, as on White Chalk. The songs are wonderfully mesmerizing, leaving a hypnotic effect on the listener.

Album Description
White Chalk is Pj Harvey's eighth studio album and first new material since 2004's critically acclaimed Uh Huh Her. Pj Harvey went into the studio late last year to record and produce with Flood and John Parish. The three had worked together previously on the Grammy nominated To Bring You My Love and on Is This Desire? White Chalk also includes musical contributors from Harvey's long time associate Eric Drew Feldman, and Jim White from The Dirty Three.

Customer Reviews: Read 66 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Autumnal October 12, 2007
43 out of 57 found this review helpful

If I'd listened to some of the reviews I've read I would never have bought "White Chalk," but now I realize that the reviewers dismissed it because they couldn't hear it. The "real" PJ Harvey is categorized in the ossified mind as the punky, guitar happy howler of classic work like "Is This Desire?" She's celebrated for being an artist, but paradoxically criticized for daring to change, to follow her bliss, the reaction akin to that of horrified McDonald's patrons if they bit into Big Macs made of Filet Mignon. The burger might actually be wonderful, but it just wouldn't "taste right" because it wasn't what they expected. "White Chalk" isn't "Is This Desire?" (One of my favorite records), but it's great in its own right.

A lot of contemporary music grows tedious by the first minute - O.K., I get it, you want more, Britney - but White Chalk has been my constant soundtrack for the last week, and, despite being only about thirty-four minutes long, hasn't palled a bit. There's a minor key, folksy feel to it, from the acoustic instruments to the restrained, whispery sound of PJ's matchless voice, the lyrics suggesting old murder ballads and overheard confessions. It's autumnal, just right for this time of year, spooky and haunting, a suite of sepia toned chamber music in the key of regret, nostalgia and dread. The same way a whisper makes you listen more actively than a shout,the quiet complexity of White Chalk remains intriguing -- there's something to it, something that moves and engages, shaded rather than hid, making the whole profound and real in a world that so often prefers sameness and plastic pretension.

4 out of 5 stars

A provocative album of lonely beauty. October 4, 2007
36 out of 37 found this review helpful

P J Harvey's stated objective has always been to get as far away from her last album as possible. Which is why, following her accessible album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, she followed up with a difficult and unloveable lo-fi album in Uh Huh Her.
Three years on, and she's travelled even further into experimental territory with a brittle, ghostly folk album that's rich in stark atmosphere but totally devoid of melody.
Based almost entirely around stark, minimal, repetitive piano and organ figures and featuring almost no guitars or percussion at all, the album straddles the boundary between contemporary classical and Victorian American vaudeville.
From the moment it begins, it almost sends shivers down the spine (in a good way) and just keeps getting better the more you listen to it.
The breathtaking title track "White Chalk" (which talks of being buried beneath Dorset's chalk hills) finds Polly even more tender vocally, and set against some fine acoustic strumming. Her soaring vocals midway through prove entirely captivating, while the gentle riffs are a shimmering delight.
The themes of the album aren't exactly bright rays of sunshine: "To Talk to You" is one of the more touching moments of the album as Polly tries to reach her grandmother through song. The first single "When Under Ether" deals with drug incantations and "Dear Darkness" is like an open letter from Sartre.
As ever, the topics are deathly and made all the more brutal and haunting because they're delivered in a fragile whisper to a barren accompaniment.
The album is unsettling, strange and yet hauntingly beautiful.
There are many moments of genuine brilliance here to help you alleviate the day-to-day, and which remind you why people make music in the first place: to share their honesty and imaginative ideas, in a way that's so honest that its authenticity is refreshing.
It's an album cut with plenty of things to transcend you, leaving you in a state of bliss and wonderment.
"White Chalk" may not be the greatest album of all time, it may not be to everyone's tastes, even Harvey's own fans , it may not even be Polly's finest.
But it's a mark of her determination to try new things and continually challenge herself that she's not afraid to be different.
For those new to PJ Harvey this may not be the most accessible album. For those who have followed this far on the journey, "White Chalk" is another wonderful moment - a provocative offering. An album of lonely beauty and piercing sorrow, "White Chalk" is P.J. Harvey back at the peak of her considerable powers.
Give it a chance and you'll come to realise that "White Chalk" is every bit as impressive as PJ's earlier record, but in a more grown-up and mature way.

1 out of 5 stars

Boring, short...not worth the wait!!! October 4, 2007
23 out of 43 found this review helpful

I am a long time fan of PJ, but this new release,(barely longer than an EP at 33 minutes total!!) is not even worth picking up! (unless you need something to help kick in a Lunesta!) If you are looking for anything that reminds you of PJ Harvey, believe me....it's not here! Save your money. If you are looking sounds to meditate with, this might be for you.

1 out of 5 stars

Can I give it half a star? October 4, 2007
23 out of 39 found this review helpful

This "album" is a waste of time. It should have been an EP, it should have been $10 max, and PJ should have taken some piano lessons and fleshed out the songs more before she bothered to release this. When the packaging is a cardboard sleeve and the record is under 34 minutes, WHAT are we paying for?!

I have been a huge PJ fan for years and years, but this just feels like she's trying to rip people off. And then there's the music... that other review is right, there is nothing melodic about these songs. PJ just bangs on the piano REALLY POORLY, and sings off key in this annoying little girl voice that is not her normal voice and is not appealing. This album is like some experiment in bad piano playing, bad vocals, and melodramatic lyrics. Go buy the St Vincent cd "Marry Me" instead.

1 out of 5 stars

brutal October 6, 2007
22 out of 37 found this review helpful

this cd is strictly for the diehards who think polly can do no wrong. while i think pj is the best female rock singer/songwriter just about ever, i find this cd unlistenable. hopefully next time polly will be 'brutal' in a positive way. and you know she will !

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