The Quietus had the honour of talking to the esteemed PJ Harvey today, in anticipation of the release of her new album Let England Shake. After telling us that she’d spent two years just crafting the lyrics of the album – the longest she’s ever spent penning the words for one of her records – she also hinted that she’d adopted a less introspective writing approach. "I do feel at this stage of my life, it feels very important to give voice to the things that really matter," she told The Quietus. "Things that I feel need to be said that aren’t being said, and address the issues of the day."
With the album littered with references to bloodshed, bullets and fallen soldiers – as well as mentions of "the United Nations" – she insisted she didn’t want the record to become "dogmatic" or "self-righteous", but did add: "I think that it’s only now that I’ve been writing for this period of years that I feel I can begin to tackle these things with language."
Check back on The Quietus soon for an in-depth interview with PJ Harvey.
