Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Don't count on Polly Jean Harvey for predictable surprises. White Chalk, her most frustrating yet, is the kind of album you're glad to own and will no doubt play a couple of times a year -- a lasting pleasure, sure, a lasting enjoyment, maybe. I've warmed to it since I wrote this; "When Under Ether" is her most chilling recorded moment; and there's courage in Polly Jean's decision to work against her strengths. Still doesn't make the album more than a harrowing misfire.

2 comments:

  1. So THAT'S who got to Harvilla before me!

    I've cooled on this album, but only a little, only as much as you've warmed to it. One day we may stand together.

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  2. We stand together, old sport, when it's a question of degrees.

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