White Chalk
White Chalk is the eighth studio album by PJ Harvey, released on 24 September 2007 in the UK, and on 2 October 2007 in the US.[1]
Work on the album started in 2006, with producer Flood and John Parish, who also worked on her To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? albums. Other collaborators on White Chalk are Eric Drew Feldman and Jim White from Dirty Three.[2]
The first single to be released from White Chalk was "When Under Ether" on 17 September 2007 on digital download and 7" vinyl. A second single, "The Piano," was released on 26 November 2007. A third, "The Devil," was released on 7", download, and CD formats in March 2008.
Style
For this album Harvey has moved away from alternative rock and recorded a set of songs for piano, despite her lack of expertise on the instrument. In an interview in The Wire she explained "the great thing about learning a new instrument from scratch is that it [...] liberates your imagination."
As well as this, she sings in a much higher register than usual, at a pitch outside her normal range.
Lyrically, however, Harvey continues with the dark, moody themes typical of much of her music.[3]
Reception
The album has received mostly positive reviews. The Observer gave the album 5 stars out of 5. Rolling Stone gave the single "When Under Ether" 4 out of 5 stars. The album has a score of 80/100 on Metacritic.[14]
Track listing
All songs written by P J Harvey.
- "The Devil" – 2:58
- "Dear Darkness" – 3:10
- "Grow Grow Grow" – 3:23
- "When Under Ether" – 2:25
- "White Chalk" – 3:13
- "Broken Harp" – 1:59
- "Silence" – 3:11
- "To Talk to You" – 4:01
- "The Piano" – 2:37
- "Before Departure" – 3:49
- "The Mountain" – 3:11
Formats
The US release is available on CD and 33⅓ rpm LP. The UK release is available on CD and 45 rpm vinyl record. White Chalk is also available on iTunes complete with a bonus track, "Wait".
Personnel
- PJ Harvey: vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, zither, bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica, broken harp, cig fiddle.
- John Parish: drums, vocals, bass guitar, banjo, acoustic guitar, percussion, wine glass.
- Eric Drew Feldman: piano, optigan, vocals, mellotron, keyboards, mini-moog.
- Jim White: drums, percussion.
with
- Nico Brown: concertina on "Before Departure".
- Andrew Dickson, Bridget Pearse, Martin Brunsden, Nico Brown, Nick Bicât: additional vocals on "Before Departure".
Credits
- Produced & mixed by Flood, John Parish & PJ Harvey
- Engineered by Flood
- Assisted by Catherine Marks & Andrew Savors with additional engineering by PJ Harvey & Ali Chant
- PJ Harvey managed by Paul McGuinness with Sally-Anne McKeown at Principle Management
- All songs published by Hothead Music Ltd. / Universal Music Publishing Ltd.
- Photography by Maria Mochnacz
- Artwork by Rob Crane & Maria Mochnacz
- Dress designed by Maria Mochnacz, PJ Harvey & Annie Mochnacz
- Dress made by Annie Mochnacz
Chart performance
| Chart (2007) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Albums Chart |
17 |
| Austrian Albums Top 75 |
26 |
| Belgian Albums Top 50 |
12 |
| Danish Albums Top 40 |
18 |
| Dutch Albums Top 100 |
34 |
| European Albums Top 100 |
12 |
| Finnish Albums Top 40 |
32 |
| France Albums Top 200 |
10 |
| Irish Albums Top 75 |
15 |
|
| Chart (2007) |
Peak
position |
| Italian Albums Top 100 |
19 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart |
21 |
| Norway Albums Top 40 |
7 |
| Portuguese Albums Top 30 |
13 |
| Swedish Albums Top 60 |
18 |
| Swiss Albums Top 100 |
21 |
| UK Albums Chart [15] |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 |
45 |
|
References
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2 July 2007). "PJ Harvey Goes Into The 'White' On New Album". Billboard magazine. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003606127. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
- ^ PJ Harvey to return with new album NME.com 7 February 2007, Retrieved on 07-07-07
- ^ Stubbs, D. "Return of the Native" in The Wire 283 (September 2007), p.34
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Phipps, Keith (2 October 2007). "The A.V. Club review". Avclub.com. http://www.avclub.com/articles/pj-harvey-white-chalk,7520/. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "musicOMH review". Musicomh.com. http://www.musicomh.com/albums/pj-harvey-3_0907.htm. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ Paul Mardles. "The Observer review". Observer.guardian.co.uk. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,,2168472,00.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ The Phoenix review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ By Rob Sheffield (20 September 2007). "Rolling Stone review". Rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/7910/38289. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "Slant review". Slantmagazine.com. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1200. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "Sputnikmusic review". Sputnikmusic.com. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/13549/PJ-Harvey-White-Chalk/. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "Stylus review". Stylusmagazine.com. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/pj-harvey/white-chalk.htm. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "White Chalk Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/harveypj/whitechalk?q=pj%20harvey. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "PJ Harvey - White Chalk - Music Charts". http://acharts.us/album/28391.
External links