On her previous album, PJ Harvey turned inland. was nothing less than an ode to her native country. The album was a huge success not only in Great Britain but also beyond. On the sequel The Hope Six Demolition Project, Polly Jean Harvey looks across the border. The singer made three trips (one to Afghanistan, one to Kosovo and one to the American capital Washington DC) and those trips provide this
… album with the textual ammunition. Harvey considers, but does not judge. With the same compassion she sings about an American war veteran or a begging Afghan boy. The musical setting is as you would expect from PJ Harvey: surprising and exciting, one moment raw and busy, then quiet again. There is a leading role for the transverse tenor sax, which seems to convey Harvey's despair. The Hope Six Demolition Project is an impressive album, and a more than worthy successor to Let England Shake. (PdK)more
