P.J. Harvey, 4-Track Demos
Featured Album
A testament to Harvey's artistic intent from the first impulse
Many attributed the hostile sound of Rid of Me to Steve Albini's engineering, but the early versions of many of the songs on that album collected here suggest that the songs themselves had quite a few demons lurking within. (It's worth noting that the release of the Rid of Me demos has a precedent; Dry was released, in limited edition, with Demonstration, which collected the early versions of each song on that album and presented them in identical order.) 4-Track Demos is a testament to the presence of Harvey's artistic intent from the first impulse; Harvey's caterwaul on the earliest versions of Rid of Me standouts like "Legs" and "Ecstasy" is in fine form, while the slightly slower version of "50ft Queenie" here reveals the essential swagger of both Harvey the artist and the song itself. The tracks not presented in fuller form on Rid of Me also are worth a listen for fans who don't necessarily consider themselves completists — the distortion-amplified dreams of raunch-filled decadence in "Reeling," in particular, cut through the speakers like a knife, and the slow, anguished burn of "Hardly Wait" is reminiscent of the most frustrated moments on Dry.
