b. Polly Jean Harvey, 9 October 1969, Yeovil, Somerset, England. Harvey was the daughter of hippie parents who exposed her to art rock artists such as Captain Beefheart and folk singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan at an early age. After growing up on their farm in Dorset and playing saxophone with an eight-piece instrumental group, she wrote her first songs as part of the Polekats, a folk trio who toured local pubs, in which she was only just old enough to drink. Afterwards, she attended an art foundation course before joining Somerset-based band Automatic Dlamini for two and a half years (from whom would come several future collaborators). Over this period she contributed saxophone, guitar and vocals, and toured Europe twice, also appearing on the chorus of local band Grape's "Baby In A Plastic Bag" single, and singing backing vocals on Bristol-based Family Cat's "Colour Me Grey".
Bored with playing other people's material, Harvey moved to London, ostensibly to attend a course in sculpture (her other love), and elected to work with bass player Ian Olliver and drummer and backing vocalist Rob Ellis (b. 13 February 1962, Bristol, England), both fellow Automatic Dlamini travellers. Together they played live for the first time in April 1991, using the name PJ Harvey. Independent label Too Pure Records, home of Th' Faith Healers and Stereolab, were so convinced by these nebulous performances that they mortgaged their home to finance the debut single "Dress". Olliver left to be replaced by Stephen Vaughan (b. 22 June 1962, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England) on five-string fretless bass, after the record's release. Together with the impressive "Sheela-Na-Gig" and her 1992 debut Dry, it was enough to bring Harvey to the attention not only of Island Records but also the mainstream press. Subverting the traditions of the female singer-songwriter with outbreaks of fire-and-brimstone guitar, Harvey possessed the sort of voice which, while not cultured in the traditional sense, offered a highly emotive cudgel. Allied to lyrics that laid naked her own relationships and feelings, her revisionary attitude to feminism was demonstrated by a New Musical Express cover on which she appeared topless, with her back to the photographer.
An evocative and disturbing songwriter, most considered that Harvey would leave too bitter an aftertaste for a mass audience, a truism that was partially dispelled by support slots to U2, but hardly by the choice of producer for 1993's Rid Of Me, Big Black/Rapeman controversialist Steve Albini. A vicious stew of rural blues, with Harvey's voice and guitar sounding almost animalized by the production, its title track centrepiece offered one of the most fearsome declarations ("You're not rid of me") ever articulated in rock music. Obsessive, haranguing imagery accompanied by stunning, committed musical performances (especially the distinctive drumming of Ellis), this was an album of such vehemence that its follow-up, by necessity, was forced to lower the extremity threshold.
In the interim, PJ Harvey (now officially a solo artist) made a memorable appearance at the 1994 BRIT Awards, duetting with Björk on a remarkable cover version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". For the following year's To Bring You My Love, Harvey abandoned some of the psychosis, replacing it with a haunting, sinister ambience. With U2 producer Flood working in tandem with namesake Mick Harvey (of the Bad Seeds), Harvey left behind some of the less pleasant subject matter of yore (bodily dysfunction, revenge). The new approach was typified by the video to promotional single "Down By The Water", evocative of Ophelia-like madness and sacrifice. Harvey's band now comprised guitarist John Parish (another former colleague from Automatic Dlamini), Jean-Marc Butty (b. France; drums), Nick Bagnall (keyboards/bass), Joe Gore (b. San Francisco, California, USA; guitar, ex-Tom Waits' band) and Pere Ubu's Eric Feldman (b. San Francisco, California, USA; keyboards) - all musicians Harvey had met on previous travels. It was obvious, however, that she was still having problems with her public perception: "If I hadn't been tarred with the angst-ridden old bitch cow image, it'd be something else. Now it's, oh, she's gone back to the farm".
During this period Harvey appeared on acclaimed albums by Nick Cave and Tricky, and in 1996 collaborated with Parish on the theatrical Dance Hall At Louse Point. That album's oblique musical reference points informed 1998's starkly beautiful Is This Desire?, which saw the artist striking out to the creative wildlands in search of her muse. The same year Harvey made her acting debut in Hal Hartley's The Book Of Life, appearing in modern guise as Mary Magdalene. She also exhibited her sculptures in several UK galleries.
Havey's sixth album, the aptly-titled Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, saw her reuniting with Ellis and Mick Harvery. The album juxtaposed thrashy alternative rock ("Big Exit", "Kamikaze") with dark, sensual ballads ("This Mess We're In", "We Float"), and with a relatively accessible sound was by far her most commercially successful release. The album was awarded the UK's Mercury Music Prize in September 2001. Harvey returned to the stripped down rock sound of her earlier albums on the follow-up, Uh Huh Her (2004), playing ever instrument bar the drums and self-producing. The same year she wrote and produced several tracks on Marianne Faithfull's Before The Poison and appeared as a guest vocalist on Mark Lanegan's Bubblegum.
In the three year gap that preceded the release of her next album, Harvey worked on her sculptures, wrote poetry, and learned to play the piano. Inspired by a new instrument, she conceived White Chalk as a collection of songs for piano. Her creative daring was rewarded by uniformly positive reviews, with critics also picking up on the fact that on the album Harvey abandoned her traditional vocal range to perform in a much higher register.
