P J HARVEY STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA ALBUM ISLAND, UNIVERSAL RELEASE: OCTOBER 24, 2000 REVIEW: NOVEMBER 24, 2000

Some worrying changes have taken place with P J Harvey. Firstly, she has exited her messed up, sleazy former self for a seemingly more tidy, mature image, carrying with her an annoyingly highbrow cultural air. And worse, her entire new album seems to deal with her newfound love. A quick glance through the lyrics seems to confirm this - they're packed with cliché's like "take life as it comes" and "I feel like some bird of paradise" - and I may be a horrible person, but few things can be more disturbing than having to listen to someone ranting on about how much in love they are.
But in the same moment as the words leave Harvey's mouth, all whimsy happiness seems to slip away, and leave the lyrics tainted. Harvey might be happily in love, but she sounds like she's just too aware that it won't last, like she's desperately trying to hold on to something that sooner or later is bound to crumble away in her clenched fists. In the end she sounds just as desperate as ever.
What pulls "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" down is instead its reactionary production. Compared to the bleeding harshness of Harvey's last album, "Is This Desire?", the crisp rock sound of this album is very cowardly.
Opening track "Big Exit" is a fabulous rock song, as is "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore" (song title of the year?), but most of the album fails to captivate in the same way as P J Harvey usually does. I miss the sore blues of her older material, and the sordid pulse of "To Bring You My Love". And I really can't stand the single "Good Fortune".

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN