eMusic Review 0
Perhaps PJ Harvey's most accessible record (complete with Thom Yorke cameo!), Stories is full of straightforward rock 'n' roll tracks — straightforward, at least, in the context of Harvey's catalog, which is to say that the songs here aren't exactly arena-ready. Still, from the first ringing guitar note on "Big Exit," in which she declares her intentions to face the crazy world as long as her lover's by her side, Harvey puts her emotions and her melodies front-and-center in a way that's simultaneously disarming and rapturous. While there is some exploring of the dank underbellies of the world — see the end-of-the-affair duet with Yorke "This Mess We're In," the love-as-war howl "Kamikaze," or the examination of urban striving "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore" — there's also what might be the best love song in her body of work, the love letter to a lover and to New York "Big Exit," and the declaration of something resembling inner peace "Horses In My Dreams."
Even with its explorations of love's darker themes, Stories has a brightness about it compared to the rest of Harvey's catalog #&8212; mind you, it's the brightness of a rain-slicked city afternoon as opposed to, say,… read more »
