PJ Harvey performed four songs from his recent album “ I Inside the Old Year Dying “, as well as ” White Chalk “.
PJ Harvey recently gifted NPR’s Tiny Desk with four songs from the album I Inside the Old Year Dying, released this year, where she sings in an archaic dialect from Dorset, where she grew up, while making a nod to “ Love Me Tender » by Elvis Presley. She sang in a cluttered corner of the radio station’s office for the 16-minute Tiny Desk Concert, backed by multi-instrumentalist James Johnston and longtime collaborator John Parish.
She played guitar while singing on ” A Noiseless Noise “, while Johnston played violin and Parish played electric guitar. She kept her acoustic guitar, with a capo, for “ A Child’s Question, August ” And ” I Inside the Old Year Dying » while Parish picked up a pair of chopsticks. She remained silent between each song, sometimes just saying thank you and introducing “ White Chalk », the title of her 2007 album, on which she plays the harmonica. Her powerful serenity seemed to disarm the audience, who often waited to see her smile before applauding.
This show follows PJ Harvey’s first performance in the United States in six years. Earlier this month, she hosted an event in Brooklyn at which she recited poems from her recent verse novel, Orlamsang songs of I Inside the Old Year Dying (of which ” Seem an I “, which she did not perform during the NPR concert) and participated in a question-and-answer session. “ I really think I’ve never sung so wellshe said of the album. I think being older helps. One of the good things about getting older, actually, is that the voice becomes really charming. She is much richer and I can access deeper levels with her. »
