The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey

At 47, PJ Harvey seems to be finally sliding into her prime. The Hope Six Demolition Project, her eleventh album in her 24 year career, has been a long time coming. Her previous album Let England Shake came out five years ago, to much acclaim (although I completely missed it on the Top 31).

Harvey has always been on the outskirts of my musical taste. I’ve enjoyed hearing her songs when they come up on the radio, but I’ve never connected with an album of hers before this one. This album is pure rock and roll, with a little bit of a message. The name of the album is in direct response to the HOPE VI projects, which were part of a gentrification / “social cleansing” movement in Washington, DC.

The album was created under interesting circumstances, according to Wikipedia:

in sessions open to the public as part of an art installation at Somerset House in London called Recording in Progress. The sessions were forty-five minutes each in length… Viewers could see Harvey create the album through one-way glass with producers Flood and John Parish, who both worked on Harvey's previous album, Let England Shake.

Parish has been PJ Harvey’s longtime producer and collaborator. And even if you’ve not heard of Flood, you’ve heard his music. The man is responsible for so many seminal albums, including U2’s The Joshua Tree and Nine Inch Nail’s Pretty Hate Machine, it’s no wonder I love this PJ Harvey album. Give it a listen. I have a feeling you’ll love it, too.

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12. Amen & Goodbye by Yeasayer
13. Sea of Noise by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
14. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
15. Painting Of A Panic Attack by Frightened Rabbit
16. Why Are You OK by Band Of Horses
17. Not To Disappear by Daughter
18. Sunlit Youth by Local Natives
19. I Had a Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam
20. ★ by David Bowie
21. Farewell, Starlite! by Francis and the Lights
22. This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
23. LNZNDRF by LNZNDRF
24. Puberty 2 by Mitski
25. Light Upon the Lake by Whitney
26. A Corpse Wired for Sound by Merchandise
27. Away by Okkervil River
28. case/lang/veirs by case/lang/veirs
29. Love Letter for Fire by Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
30. Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future by Underworld
31. Preoccupations by Preoccupations