Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Monday, October 6, 2025
Thursday, October 2, 2025
Ash – Ad Astra – Album Review
Monday, September 29, 2025
Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override – Album Review
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
NewDad – Altar – Album Review
Nine Inch Nails – TRON:Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Album Review
Cruel Sister – Whelans – 19/09/25 – Live Review
Friday, September 19, 2025
New Irish Music: Arrivalists – From A Piano In Bergen
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan – Pomes Penyeach – Album Review
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Lila Tristram – America – Album Review
Friday, September 5, 2025
New Irish Music: Nerves – Iarmhaireacht EP
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
DIIV – Button Factory – Live Review – 1/09/25
Suede – Antidepressants – Album Review
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Modern Nature – The Heat Warps – Album Review
Monday, August 25, 2025
The Lemonheads – The Academy – 24/08/25 – Live Review
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Queens of the Stone Age – Royal Hospital Kilmainham – 20/08/25 – Live Review
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Monday, August 18, 2025
Oasis – Croke Park – 16/08/25 – Live review
Friday, August 15, 2025
New Irish Music – The Sentimental Tourists
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
herbal tea – Hear As The Mirror Echoes – Album Review
Monday, August 11, 2025
Steve Gunn – Music for Writers – Album Review
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
New Irish Music – Arrivalists – This Is Not Yours To Take
Monday, July 28, 2025
Monday, July 21, 2025
Bill Callahan – National Concert Hall – Live Review – 21/07/25
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Rattling Ark – O’Regans – Live Review – 18/06/25
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Kim Deal – Vicar Street – Live Review – 16/06/25
Monday, June 16, 2025
Nine Inch Nails – 3Arena – Live Review – 15/06/25
Friday, June 13, 2025
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts – Talkin to the Trees – Album Review
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Joseph Chester – Au Revoir Tristesse – Album Review
Monday, June 9, 2025
In The Meadows – 07/06/25 – Festival Review
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles – Album Review
Friday, May 23, 2025
Robert Forster – Strawberries – Album Review
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Preoccupations – Ill At Ease – Album Review
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Suzanne Vega – Flying With Angels – Album Review
Monday, April 28, 2025
Maria Somerville – Luster – Album Review
Loscil – Lake Fire – Album Review
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
A Lazarus Soul – Vicar Street – Live Review – 18/04/25
Monday, April 14, 2025
The Cruellest Month – National Concert Hall – 13/04/25 – Live Review
Adrian Crowley – Project Arts Centre – Live Review – 11/04/25
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Held By Trees – Hinterland – Album Review
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Momma – Welcome To My Blue Sky – Album Review
Monday, March 31, 2025
Facs – Wish Defense – Album Review
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Mark Eitzel – Whelans – Live Review – 26/03/25
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
The Horrors – Night Life – Album Review
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Tindersticks – 3Olympia – Live Review – 15/03/25
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?
You could
argue PJ Harvey is one of the most interesting artists of the last 30 years. Her fourth album, released in 1998, was
recorded in collaboration with John Parish.
It starts with the fairly muted Angelene, which unfurls gradually,
building pleasingly to a chorus of “2000 miles away”. There are a couple of
noisier tracks here. The Sky Lit Up
kicks things up on a notch but it’s a quick sub-two minute blast, while the two
minute My Beautiful Leah and Joy are almost industrial-sounding, the latter
featuring gentle clanging before cutting off abruptly.
But for the
most part the album is made of muted, mysterious tracks with little instrumentation
other than a prominent, moody bassline. These
tracks (The Wind, Catherine and Electric Light) are by and large excellent. There are a couple of more ‘traditional-sounding’
PJ Harvey tracks, not guitar-heavy rockers by any means but more fleshed out
tracks. The gnarling A Perfect Day Elise
has a soaring chorus, while The Garden and The River have sweet-sounding piano
and keyboards, the latter also feautiring a nice bit of trumpet.
The relatively
rocking No Girl So Sweet has PJ cutting loose completely on vocals and the
track turns into a glorious racket, but it’s back to muted glory for the title
track where PJ sings sultry and sweetly.
It’s another really high quality collection of songs from PJ Harvey.