Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Congratulations to PJ Harvey who was recently announced as winner of the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize Album of the Year with her eighth studio album, Let England Shake (Island) . When it was nominated. Harvey said, “I am thankful for this recognition of my work, and look forward to finally being able to attend the event in person in September.” This was Harvey’s fourth nomination; she was previously nominated for Rid of Me in 1993 and To Bring You My Love in 1995, and in 2001 she won the award with Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. She accepted the award from her hotel room in Washington DC on September 11, 2001. This latest nomination also marked 10 years since she became the first female to win the Mercury prize and Harvey now stands alongside Radiohead as the most nominated artist in the prize’s history. Released in February, Let England Shake is the fastest selling record of Harvey’s career featuring long-standing collaborators Flood, John Parish, Mick Harvey and Jea...

PJ Harvey’s eighth studio album was recently released to widespread international acclaim and ‘Let England Shake’ has garnered Top 10 chart positions in the UK, Australia, Denmark, France, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland and debuted at number 2 in Belgium & Norway. Having completed a sold out European tour, including two triumphant dates at the Troxy in East London, PJ Harvey will return to London this summer with a performance at Alexandra Palace on July 23rd. Harvey will also played this year’s Coachella Festival sharing the bill with Kanye West and The Strokes. Mercury Prize Winner, PJ Harvey was awarded the Teenage Cancer Trust Outstanding Contribution to Music at this year’s NME Awards, performing at last month’s ceremony with live band Mick Harvey, Jean Marc Butty and John Parish and more recently appeared live on BBC2's  Later with Jools Holland ‘The Glorious Land’, the second single from PJ Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’, was released as di...

T o mark the release Let England Shake, PJ Harvey will debut her new album live in a one-off, special show from Paris next Monday February 14th. The show will be streamed live on Monday night at 8pm GMT by the French music site Deezer www.deezer.com and the cultural chanel ARTE www.arteliveweb.com The webcast will also be available on the official PJ Harvey site www.pjharvey.net   Let England Shake, Harvey’s eighth studio album is set for release next Monday and has already received exceptional reviews internationally. This week’s NME awards it a rare 10/10, calling it “arguably her most brilliant record to date.”  Harvey will play two sold out shows at The Troxy in London later this month, as well as sold-out dates in Brussels, Berlin, and Paris.

A new PJ Harvey single, The Words That Maketh Murder, will be released digitally by Island Records on 17th January 2011. It will be the first release from Harvey's forthcoming album Let England Shake due out February. Following the digital release on 17th January, The Words That Maketh Murder will be released on 7" vinyl on 7th February 2011 backed with an exclusive track The Guns Called Me Back Again, recorded during the Let England Shake album session. Award-winning war photographer Seamus Murphy has produced a series of short films - containing reportage footage shot around England and performance footage of Harvey - for each song on the album. His film for The Last Living Rose is currently on http://www.pjharvey.net/ Let England Shake, scheduled for release on 14th February, is Harvey's eighth studio album. The record received a 5 star review in the current issue of Q magazine and Mojo writes ‘…of all her many guises – this may be her most powerful… more than ever, P...

PJ Harvey's eighth studio album ‘ Let England Shake ’ is set to be released on the 14.02.2011 through Island Records . Recorded in a 19th Century church in Dorset with long time collaborator Flood who co-produced the album with PJ Harvey, John Parish and Mick Harvey. ‘ Let England Shake ’ was also mixed by Flood. The album will be supported by a run of sold out live shows early next year, with dates in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and London’s Troxy on February 27th and 28th. 2011 will also see Harvey return to the festival-stage, with more details to be announced. PJ Harvey will perform with a live band which includes Mick Harvey, John Parish and Jean-Marc Butty.