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Uh Huh Her by: PJ Harvey

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Publisher: Universal / Island
Release date: 27th May, 2004
Media: Audio CD

Format

• Enhanced
• Explicit Lyrics

Similar Products

• Is This Desire?
• Rid Of Me
• To Bring You My Love
• Dry
• Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
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Track List

• The Life And Death Of Mr. Badmouth
• Shame
• Who The Fuck?
• The Pocket Knife
• The Letter
• The Slow Drug
• No Child Of Mine
• Cat On The Wall
• You Come Through
• It's You
• The End
• The Desperate Kingdom Of Love
• Seagulls
• The Darker Days Of Me & Him
• Who The Fuck? (Video)

Editorial Review

How can someone so unpredictable behave so predictably? Every time PJ Harvey releases something sophisticated and clean like 2000's Mercury Music Prize tipped Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, it just about guarantees a contradictory follow-up album is around the bend. Her ambitious 1992 debut, Dry, inspired the bitter death rattle of Rid of Me. Her third offering, 1995's elegant To Bring You My Love, gave way to the stormy Is This Desire?. Harvey's sixth solo album, Uh Huh Her, doesn't disappoint. It's a nasty riposte to the success of its predecessor, built on grubby blues-punk riffs and the brooding, primal howl that Harvey uses when she wants to impersonate a she-wolf. Some of it seems disappointingly remedial ("The Letter" "Cat on the Wall"), but the best material ("The Desperate Kingdom of Love" "Who the Fuck?") just reconfirms that no matter how raw the British songwriter serves it up, the beauty of her work is undeniable. --Aidin Vaziri

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Average rating - (more reviews)

Rating: - Thank God for PJ Harvey!

I'm so glad I've been introduced to this womean's music! It rules!!!!!! It took me a couple of lessons to get it because she is so unique- but now I'm addicted!!!

Rating: - The two-halves of the Harvey whole/soul

“Later…with Jools Holland” introduces me to so many fantastic bands and artists I can barely keep up and now P J Harvey is one of them, or more accurately- very, very high up on my list of musicians whose back catalogues I now feel compelled to purchase thanks to that exceptional programme and of course, as a result of the consistently jaw-dropping, mouth-watering live performances of new material by veteran and amateur musicians alike, which never fail to get me standing up and moving awkwardly (why do the audience members all insist on doing that?) along with everyone else in the studio.

‘Stories from the city, stories from the sea’ (the critically acclaimed album that preceded this one) had long been on my Wish list after a friend’s recommendation, but before I saw what P J and her music were all about I was hesitant to buy before sampling and when I finally saw her perform…I was both relieved and regretful that I had waited- relieved because the taster-tracks she performed were very much my taste in music (and from what I’ve heard her previous album differs wildly from this latest offering) and regretful because I’d not been aware until now just how much of a musically exceptional and personally charismatic talent Harvey truly was.

“The Letter,” “Shame” and ‘Who the f**k?” were the tracks I was lucky enough to catch not just being sung, but embodied by Harvey and then catapulted from her soul into the studio. And luckily…the rest of the album is just as powerful as her performance of those three songs on that occasion- crammed with more of the same raw energy and conviction. However, these three songs are not the best examples of what this album is all about and definitely not an accurate cross-section of the record as a whole- in fact, there’s a complete contrast between these songs, which are consumed by negativity and bitterness and the rest of the album, which is just sublime- softly spoken lyrics, the bare-minimum use of instruments and a great deal more folksy. These softer songs reminded me of artists such as June Tabor, Azure Ray and even Tori Amos for their wild musings and utilisation of traditional instruments and it’s these ‘softer options’ that probably include some of my favourite songs from the album. ‘Pocket Knife’ is incredibly folksy with a monotonous tambourine jingle acting as a counterpoint to Harvey’s bizarre, but razor-sharp lyrics. ‘You come through’ is a wonderful change of pace- spiritual and uplifting as it builds to a crescendo, again very soft. But the most powerful example, be it of either the negatively-charged tracks or the softer, more benign ones has to be ‘The Desperate Kingdom of Love’ which is simply gorgeous- again Harvey is barely-audible as she whispers the lyrics, which are both beautiful and touching.

So, despite the critical characterisation of this album as angry and bitter, in equal measures it’s also at times very gentle and touching and that contrast works really well. Plus- this is by no means an over-produced record, with largely bare vocals and limited instrumental arrangements, making the music (even as it swings wildly between extreme chaos & negativity into utterly tender & peaceful ditties) incredibly sincere and heartfelt. A great introduction to Harvey.

Rating: - Uh Huh Her: A review.

I came to know of P.J. Harvey's music thanks to "Later....With Jools Holland". She has made several appearances on his show over the years, most recently in 2004. I also remember watching a televised concert, I think it was held at the Brixton Academy just before John Peel died, which (I think) was shown on ITV. I decided that I liked what I had heard and that I would try and find out more about Polly and her music.

But what finally prompted me to go out and buy this album was the untimely death of John Peel in October 2004. John, as I'm sure many readers will already know, had been a long-time fan of Harvey since 1991. She performed a number of sessions for him over the years, including one in 2004 just prior to his death.

While listening to the album I removed the booklet from the CD case, looking for lyrics (and clues), to see what the songs were about. But instead of finding lyrics what I found was a series of pictures with handwritten notes. The pictures are self portraits, and appear to have been taken over the past 15 years, and seem to have inspired the feelings behind the songs. For the most part they seem to be sad pictures and they give me the impression that:

a) Polly Jean appears not to have had an entirely happy relationship with her parents, especially her mother.
b) That she was an only child, and seems to have had either an unhappy or lonely childhood. A child full of woe....
c) I wonder if Polly was a bit of a tom boy when young?.

I would suspect that the first three pictures were taken when she still lived with her parents, possibly when at art college, possibly taken before she came to London. The next three were perhaps taken when she came to London, to study for her degree, though the scarf says to me late 80's (school uniform scarf?). I wonder if the one in the middle was taken when still at school?, or possibly in the early 90's. The next two pictures are very pop, and must have been taken later when she became famous. The next picture is a black and white, and shows Polly on a horse, apparently taken when she was young. The next picture was obviously taken during her art student days, judging by the way she is dressed, I would say that it must have been taken in the late 80's or early 90's. I wouldn't like to say when the next five pictures were taken, though I believe she now lives in the US, and suspect that at least one of them was taken there. Plus it looks as if they were all taken in her bathroom, or in women's toilets!?. Possibly these pictures were taken when she was on tour?. The last picture is modern. It appears to have been taken in the same apartment as the "What the f**k?" video.

They say that every picture tells a story, but I can only guess at what these pictures are saying. An obsession with oneself perhaps?. This is how I was and how I was feeling at such and such a time seems a much more likely explanation. But I suppose the main question is: What are these pictures supposed to tell the listener, if anything?. I can only conclude that Polly is trying to give the listener an insight into the emotional and creative process behind each of the songs. This picture montage being a work of art in it's own right.

P.J. Harvey's music is deep stuff. It soon becomes clear that the album must be autobiographical, a feeling that has only been re-enforced having recently heard "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea". They are all sad songs, tainted with loneliness, sadness, love (or perhaps a lack of it), death and relationship problems. It is her voice and her story of her life. The songs, I believe, were inspired by real events in her life. Chronicling her relationship with her parents, especially her mother (and/or possibly her grandmother/grandparents?), as well as with boyfriends and lovers. It all seems to be very personal, that she is baring her soul to the listener.

My favorite tracks on this album were "The Pocket knife", "The letter" and "The slow drug".

Rating: - Thankfully Not "Stories......"

I would like to start by saying that "Stories...", to my mind, doesn't quite "fit" into Polly Harvey's remarkable ouevre. I also got the feeling that the Mercury people were merely acknowledging Harvey's immense talent at that time because they had(rather rudely)ignored her previous work. Uh Huh Her is a return to form of the highest order with all the elements of the Harvey craft in evidence. "The Letter" in particular is a proper Peej number in sound and sentiment. If "Rid Of Me" was too harsh and TBYML to pastoral then get involved with this. It seems to contain all the best elements of previous work whilst, in a way, summarising her career to date. Personally, I never listen to "Stories..." but constantly revisit all the others and that to me is the acid test.

Rating: - Ouch!

She's hurting - and any longtime PJ fan must hurt with her. Every one of her albums has come straight from the heart. This album conveys, raw and unfiltered, her feelings of love's loss. Simply produced songs, all her own musicianship, bleak and brilliant (inevitably). There isn't one of her albums that isn't worth 5 stars. Keep on singing Polly! I'll keep on buying.

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