Over the past couple years, PJ Harvey has reissued most of her discography. Today, however, the music she's announcing a release date for is brand new: she shared that her tenth studio album I Inside the Old Year Dying will be out on July 7 via Partisan Records. The record was produced by long-time collaborators Flood and John Parish.
The album's beginnings go back six years to when Harvey was wrapping up a tour for her 2016 LP The Hope Six Demolition Project. She had been working on her second compilation of poetry, Orlam (following 2015's The Hollow of the Hand), with mentoring from Scottish poet Don Paterson. It was this creative boost that helped her out of her musical stalemate. She thought back to a meeting with filmmaker Steve McQueen where he advised her to forget the idea of making an album and focus on her love of words, images, and music. She also began playing her favorite songs by artists like Nina Simone and Bob Dylan to remind her of her passion for the art.
The result is a batch of songs that, according to Harvey, serve as “a resting space, a solace, a comfort, a balm—which feels timely for the times we’re in." She added: “I think the album is about searching, looking—the intensity of first love, and seeking meaning. Not that there has to be a message, but the feeling I get from the record is one of love—it’s tinged with sadness and loss, but it’s loving. I think that's what makes it feel so welcoming: so open."
Along with the news she also shared the project's lead single, “A Child’s Question, August" and a music video directed by Steve Gullick. Watch that below, and pre-order I Inside the Old Year Dying here.
