PJ Harvey

Let England Shake

As all great eccentrics do, Polly Harvey recorded this, her eighth album, in a disused church in the pretty outbacks of her native Dorset. Most of the songs were written on an autoharp (a rather strange stringed instrument), and thematically, it jolts between anti-war cynicism and poetic, colourful narrative through England’s rich heritage. It’s filled with battle bugles, Karen-O-style wails, and hypnotic chants about wheat, corn and murderous words. It’s a true masterpiece!