PJ Harvey has revealed a few details about her upcoming eighth album, Let England Shake, which is due out February 14 on Island—the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the intense, emotionally withholding partner you’re just a little bit frightened of. According to a post on Harvey’s website, she got together in a 19th-century church in Dorset with longtime collaborator John Parish, former Bad Seed multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey (no relation), and drummer Jean-Marc Butty to record an album produced by the mono-monikered Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, etc.).
Harvey talked about the album some earlier this year, saying she had recorded a lot of it using autoharps, and that thematically speaking “it’s not only to do with taking a look at England, but taking a look at the world and what’s happening in the current day world affairs. But always trying to come from the human point of view because I don’t feel qualified to sing from a political standpoint.” Those hoping for PJ Harvey’s blistering take on Ireland seeking a EU bailout will have to wait, apparently.
She’s also got some tour dates coming up—although these are all in Europe and already sold out, so there’s not much point in reiterating them, even for our European cousins. However, she did promise that “2011 will also see Harvey return to the festival stage,” so there is that.