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9.1
86015
9.1 |
Pretty Much Amazing
For those seeking guidance with regard to broken governments, armed conflict, and debilitating poverty—maybe reach for a book, not a pop album. If it’s solace you’re after, The Hope Six Demolition Project has a few remarkable tunes you might want to hear
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9.0
85881
9.0 |
musicOMH
Her music is always so distinctly hers, and she remains one of the most distinctive and thrilling voices we have
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9.0
85893
9.0 |
Exclaim
Implicates all of the Western world's complacency, making for a complex and challenging, though gorgeous, listen
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8.5
85883
8.5 |
The Quietus
An exhilarating affair – a political album whose most daring gesture is its refusal to evangelise or furnish easy comforts
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8.5
86046
8.5 |
Under The Radar
This is a record blessed with a musical identity rich enough to avoid becoming part of the kicking-against-the-pricks, politically-charged LP lexicon—despite the bluntness of its subject matter
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8.0
85938
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
This is travel writing, rather than polemic
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8.0
85891
8.0 |
The Independent
Despondency runs through The Hope Six Demolition Project, making for an unsettling ride
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8.0
85882
8.0 |
The Irish Times
Such a record could have buckled under a lack of narrative conviction, but Harvey walks towards political landmines without flinching
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8.0
85917
8.0 |
The Guardian
By anybody else’s standards, it would be a triumph, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that Harvey was after something more than a hugely enjoyable, potent-sounding album stuffed with great tunes – in which case, she’ll have to settle for a qualified success
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8.0
85922
8.0 |
No Ripcord
Even if she sheds light on these issues, will that help change anything for the better? Harvey leaves the question hanging, but proves why she needed to write this album. She isn't sure if a musician can help the world. But it's better to try than to do nothing
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8.0
85930
8.0 |
FasterLouder
Decay is the prevailing theme on the album, emanating from the pores of nearly every track
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8.0
85742
8.0 |
Uncut
Harvey’s ninth studio album takes the temperature of our times. Print edition only
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8.0
85743
8.0 |
Q
A heavyweight tour de force, and Polly Harvey’s most fully-realised album to date. Print edition only
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8.0
85744
8.0 |
Mojo
She has created careful reportage, combining the debris of war and strife for significant detail, meaningful resonances. Print edition only
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8.0
85748
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
It is another stupendous record, of the sort nobody else is making, or probably could make. Through all her changing shapes, Harvey remains one of a kind
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8.0
85762
8.0 |
Loud And Quiet
It’s a disorienting album, but written by someone trying to make sense of something alien and repulsive when at the same time compelling and mesmeric
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8.0
85796
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
The best out-and-out rock record that Harvey’s made since Uh Huh Her
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8.0
85750
8.0 |
The Music
PJ Harvey has again made another important and challenging record
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8.0
85871
8.0 |
Time Out
Often feels as if it’s been written, as well as recorded, behind glass. Perhaps that was the point all along
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8.0
85877
8.0 |
NOW
Harvey sings with unshakeable poise, and her melodies are as sticky as ever - to the point where you can imagine some songs working as barroom singalongs
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8.0
86099
8.0 |
The List
We feel like tourists, and we feel like she’s a tourist too. Away from any deeper expectations, however, the musical quality is relentless
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8.0
85989
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Harvey’s urgent, evocative songs are as powerful as ever
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7.6
85852
7.6 |
Pitchfork
On a fascinating and flawed new album, PJ Harvey yokes the siren-like catchiness of her last great America-influenced album, Stories From the City… to the swamp-tarnished filth of her classic first three records
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7.5
85958
7.5 |
A.V. Club
It’s another fascinating and uncompromising career achievement, though one that’s necessarily a bit too detached
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7.2
86049
7.2 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
Even if it may capture her in a moment between masterpieces, it doesn’t make her music any less enthralling or her cause any less compelling
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7.0
86020
7.0 |
All Music
While it's just one piece of a bigger work, on its own the album isn't as satisfying as its predecessor
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7.0
85860
7.0 |
Spin
Much of it, especially the singles, adds something to her catalog, even if the most valuable takeaways are the questions it raises
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7.0
85746
7.0 |
Gig Soup
Among Harvey's blunt observations, this album offers some flashes of musical brilliance to enjoy while contemplating just what the overall message is
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7.0
86229
7.0 |
Clash
It’s uncomfortable and at times awkward, but maybe that’s the point
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7.0
86032
7.0 |
Crack
The connections between her lyrical inspirations and her intent aren’t easy to decipher, but the power of her delivery mirrors the determination of an artist who’s never afraid to embrace the pain
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7.0
86041
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
One of her most challenging albums, and one of her most urgent
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7.0
86102
7.0 |
Beardfood
Her attempt at a Kendrick Lamar rivalling epiphany maps the route that the album takes lyrically
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6.7
85936
6.7 |
Consequence Of Sound
Polly Jean awkwardly blends journalism and rock
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6.5
86132
6.5 |
Spectrum Culture
This may be Harvey’s weakest album in some time, but its sonic ambition reaffirms how exciting the artist remains
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6.5
86134
6.5 |
Earbuddy
The lyrics and themes overshadow the exciting, varied instrumentation on PJ Harvey's latest
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6.0
86139
6.0 |
PopMatters
Harvey's ninth album buzzes with energy, but her stories, for the first time, often make her sound like a tourist unable to scratch the surface of the places she documents
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6.0
86024
6.0 |
The Observer
If the fact-finding is foreseeably bleak, sometimes the resulting songs don’t quite gel, either
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6.0
86094
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
The songs on The Hope Six Demolition Project all sit in a similar remove, in a calculated pose that feels half premeditated, half a failure of the project
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6.0
86096
6.0 |
State
What ultimately drives the record is the conviction for change in the world. Harvey paints the picture then leaves it up to the listener to take it from there
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6.0
85747
6.0 |
DIY
This isn’t the best or the bravest music of her career, but Harvey continues to pave new ground
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6.0
85749
6.0 |
NME
The follow-up to 'Let England Shake' is unsettling and infectious, but too vague to hit hard
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6.0
85751
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
There's a fine line between social commentary and the poverty-as-entertainment format
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4.0
85745
4.0 |
The Skinny
PJ Harvey's least beautiful record by some distance, The Hope Street Demolition Project's intentions are admirable and inarguable. But weighed against the expectations raised by the overwhelming invention of her stout back catalogue, it falls uncomfortably short
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