PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her (Island)
By Alan St. Laurent

The new PJ Harvey is a bit complicated. At first I wasn't caring too much about it and I kinda threw my hands in the air and said; "Oh well. She can't make an amazing record every time."

Her last album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea could be considered THE quintessential rock album of 2000! With a few more spins, Uh Huh Her is coming together. She plays everything on this one herself except the drums. It has a really minimal feeling almost to the point of sounding like demo recordings, which is a soundscape Polly Jean has traversed before. This doesn't make it bad! In fact it adds to the mystique of Uh Huh Her. The album kinda lumped altogether on itself initially, but on repeated listenings the identity of the record is starting to be revealed. Uh Huh Her is deeper than it wants you to think it is. PJ Harvey has a way of kicking and kissing you at the same time. Uh Huh Her makes more sense with time and ends up being a rewarding listen that will last! I expect when I’ve finally digested this whole disc, if there is an end to it, Ms. Harvey is going to jump out of my stereo and give me a big hug and say; “Thank you for listening! You’ve earned it.”

Copyright©WWUH: September/OctoberProgram Guide, 2004