Customer Reviews

Uh Huh Her

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Though 2000's "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" garnered her some of the best reviews of her career, it left many of Polly Jean Harvey's more diehard fans aghast. You can see why - in a volte face similar to what Hole managed on "Celebrity Skin", Harvey had shed much of the angst and insecurity of her previous work and created an alarmingly FM-friendly record. Most people were content to cheer her on (indeed, she won the coveted Mercury Music Prize in her native UK), but some of the devoted few couldn't help grumbling that "their Polly" had been lost amidst a suspiciously AOR gloss and lyrics about guns, drugs and Manhattan.
Suffice to say that the latter are in for a treat here. "Uh Huh Her" has more in common with Harvey's "difficult" work ("Is This Desire?", the John Parish collaboration "Dance Hall at Louse Point") than it does with "Stores...". It's not the most comfortable of listens, replete as it is with couplets along the lines of It's You's "When I'm not with you I walk dark tunnels of my heart / When I'm not with you everything comes apart". Passionate, heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, yes, but - as anyone who's read Prozac Nation will know - that can all get a bit much after a while.
A more compelling criticism is that some of what's on offer here feels a little, well, half-baked. "The Slow Drug" sounds like a B-side, "The End" is just a throwaway instrumental, and the affecting "No Child of Mine" ends almost as soon as it's started. Seeing as how this comes on the back of a four-year hiatus, you might have been forgiven for expecting a bit more.
Not up there with the best of Harvey's work, then, but "Uh Huh Her" is not without its merits. Lead single "The Letter", for starters, is fantastic: "Put the pen / To the paper / Press the envelope / With my scent / Can't you see / In my handwriting / The curve of the g? / The longing..." - it's one of the most implausibly erotic things Harvey has ever written. "The Life and Death of Mr Badmouth", "Shame" and "Cat on the Wall" are all pretty strong, whilst "Who the F***?" hilariously debunks Harvey's Rid of Me persona as she rails against a hairdresser for messing-up her barnet.
All in all, this probably isn't the best place to start for people who aren't familiar with PJ's work. If she's already won you over, though, then "Uh Huh Her" should satisfy.

PJ Harvey belongs to that small group of musicians -contemporary artists, really- who are expected, and so necessary, to navigate times of pretense, caution and despair. When so many former figures of iconoclastic Rock disappear into the woodwork of making the charts and grasping for Grammies, PJ Harvey can be counted on to be uncompromising and expose herself first.
See, for me even more than the justified expectation of some great new music from a personal favorite, PJ Harvey's work represents the desire for more songs from an authentic voice, an uncompromising wail of dissent toward mediocrity and complacency -if you don't believe me, check out what happened with Liz Phair.
For this alone, it had already been too long to wait for a new album, specially given the power and poetic density of her most recent predecessor, the superb Mercury Prize winning "Stories by the Sea ...," and I welcomed excitedly the arrival of "Uh Huh Her."
In terms of artistic integrity, this album does not disappoint, from the menacing chords of the first song to the "in-your-face" pleading of "The Letter."
Overall, in my opinion, "Uh Huh Her" is not musically groundbreaking, and although I don't mean this as an automatic put-down, I initially thought of Harvey's choice to produce all songs and play all instruments -except drums- as a choice that limited the kind of emotional range her music often has. There's always a creative danger to doing it all yourself, no one else to listen to, dare you in different directions or push you beyond your, however large, musical envelope.
Yet, as I stay with her songs -rather than be distracted by my own expectations- I realize that where this album will stretch your perceptions of PJ Harvey's work is in her lyrics. This is an album that wears her outrage, pain and longing on its sleeve -"The Letter," again, "Shame" or "The Slow Drug"- and dares to be raw or tender with the same conviction -"It's You" or "You Come Through" respectively.

More specifically yet, this is an intimately personal album. The losses and darknesses hovering her words, I imagine, could not be trusted to a band, they had to expressed by herself alone. I am convinced this was the only way she could stay vulnerable -whether it's "Shame," "Pocket Knife" or "The Desperate Kingdom of Love"- and, given the results, it was an honorable and courageous decision.

with UH HUH HER, i think pj harvey has managed to successfully combine a beatifully produced pop sound (at times)- and still perform at her raw, gutteral, emotional best.

where DRY was raw and jarring and heart, and STORIES FROM THE CITY, ETC. was all polish, UH HUH HER is filled with emotionally powerful songs that still manage to be nicely produced and even, i admit, catchy (of course, while i loved the songs on DRY, i hated the production).

think of your favorite songs from TO BRING YOU MY LOVE and DANCE HALL AT LOUSE POINT and you will have a pretty good idea of the feel of this album. "meet ze monster" would be at home on this album. only, with UH HUH HER that quality (though not the tone) is consistent throughout.

from the raw, powerful opening of "the life and death of mr. badmouth" ("your lips/taste poison") to the more melodic "pocket knife" ("can't you see my pocket knife/you can't make me be your wife") the album is full of the kind of music that fans of harvey love her for -- without seeming stale, or a retread of past efforts.

there are one or two missteps, but i think UH HUH HER is harvey's most consistently high quality album, both raw and melodic, emotional and well structured.

i've listened to it four or five times in the last two days, and while it may be too soon to tell, i'm pretty sure this is my favorite of her albums -- with every listen, i like it better.

Okay, usually the sound of PJ's intense, obsessive moaning sets me to drooling. I need to confess that much to you. This, however, is the most frustrating addition to her canon. It promises so much and delivers so very little.
From the pouty frown on the cover to the opening salvo of "Mr. Badmouth", I thought this was going to be another stunner like STORIES FROM THE CITY. Not even close. There are a handful of moments here that smolder like the best of her work but never spark and catch fire. This sounds like it was written & recorded in one day. Not her best day. Everything sounds unfinished. I don't mean raw like DRY or abrasive like RID OF ME. I mean a distinct lack of power. There are a lot of song fragments. "No Child Of Mine" could have been one of the finest PJ HARVEY songs, but at the precise moment where she seems ready to veer it into greatness she chokes it. Stops it dead. It may be an attempt at a middle-finger taunt, but it's not dramatic. Just irritating. The most fleshed out number is "Pocketknife". It's as good as anything she's ever done...and sounds completely out of place here. "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" plays like an out-take from IS THIS DESIRE? It's got a delicate beauty but is recorded at levels that over-emphasize QUIET! I don't need to be beat over the head with silence. I get it. It's not an original idea. F@$# post-modernism. She's fully capable of working "The Darker Days Of Me & Him" into a frothy intoxicating brew. She just didn't do it. Aside from that there are songs on here that are utterly unlistenable.

With UH HUH HER she's giving you scraps. Sure her scraps would be seen as brilliance in lesser artists but she's NOT a lesser artist.

Of course you must own this if you're a fan. You wouldn't want to be without "Pocketknife", "Mr. Badmouth" or even the 68 seconds of "No Child of Mine", but if you are just now coming around to Polly's gifts? You can skip this one.

One of the biggest problems with a brilliant early career is that everything after it gets compared unfavorably. So it is with "Uh Huh Her," the latest by now-legendary PJ Harvey. It's too light and soft in places, but midway through Harvey's deliciously abrasive rockers burst on through.

It starts off with "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth," an awkwardly ominous song followed by the poppier "Shame" and "Pocket Knife." But Harvey hits her stride with the hilarious, snarly "Who the F*ck?", the dirgelike "Letter," and the dizzy, staticky "Cat on the Wall." After a forgettable pair of ballads and befuddling track of seagull noises, Harvey closes the album on the steady "Darker Days of Me & Him."

Harvey is something of a rock legend now, with her rough wailing vocals and bluesy-punky-rocky riffs. In "Uh Huh Her," Harvey seems to be taking a different road -- her songs are somewhat poppier and less raw at times, but she proves she can still blow us away with her unpolished gems.

Harvey's voice changes from a rough howl, to a murmur in "Pocket Knife." She's pretty solid in either, but she sounds uneasy in the softer songs, like she isn't sure whether it's working or not. But she sticks close to the angst, anger, and the darker ponderings that she does well. And her solid riffs are just as versatile, ranging from mournful to vaguely folky.

When Harvey's writing is good, it's very very good. And when it's bad... well, it's mediocre. She manages a subtle, erotic longing in "Letter," where she sings, "Can't you see/In my handwriting/The curve Of my g?/The longing... Wet the envelope/Lick and lick it." On the other hand, there is the flaccid "Dancing in circles on the kitchen floor/I'll play this song 'til I can't take anymore." Okay, whatever.

PJ Harvey isn't in her best form in "Uh Huh Her," but she does produce some solid, memorable songs that earn the "repeat button." Spotty but worth checking out.

First I want to say I'm not a music critic and this is my first review, ever. I'm gonna try to be as eloquent as my fellow reviewers, but it's not easy. I can, however, gush on about
what a nutofafan I am of Ms. Polly Jean Harvey and would like to share my thoughts on what an extraordinary artist she truly is. I want to start here with UH HUH HER because I feel some of you have been quite brutal, to say the least, when it comes to reviewing this album! Y'all should chill the f*** out! haha, no, but seriously some of you's should not be stating your opinions, especially those who gave this album one or two stars. Pfft! What's that?! Get outta here! That's just ridiculous because this is an amazing album, deserving of all five stars.

I have been a fan of PJ Harvey since 94 when a friend insisted I listen to RID OF ME (thank you, Cynthia!). I then went and bought DRY (love, love!) and waited anxiously for TO BRING YOU MY LOVE to hit the stores. I knew along the way I was forever in love with this tiny strange woman who is Polly Jean. She is unlike any other. Her music haunts me, her lyrics worthy of poems, leaving me in awe of what a most excellent storyteller and a gifted musician she is. You oughta see her play that guitar! While ROM is still my fave, the truth is I love all her albums. I own all her CDs and have seen her in concert on numerous occasions. The girl kicks arse live! Her CDs are on constant rotation all around me because she has an album to suit every mood. All of her albums are quite different, but each is distinctly PJ. Each touch my heart and evoke a sense of longing.. almost an etherealness, if you will. Because I was introduced to and fell in love with the .. (and this is where I wish I had the vocabulary of a music critic) .. the edgier, I guess, a bit punk-ier perhaps, the more raw, rip-your-heart-out earlier version of PJ that I must say through the years her music has gotten a bit more refined. That is not to say that's a bad thing, in fact, it's a rather great thing because that refinement brought us her last three wonderful albums, (all worthy of five star ratings, and award winning, no less) IS THIS DESIRE?, STORIES FROM THE CITY STORIES FROM THE SEA and of course, this album, UH HUH HER.

Now, at last, the review! I feel this is the most personal, most intimate of all PJ albums so if you're not familiar with her work this is a good one to introduce into, I think. This album contains a little bit of every other PJ albums, so it's a good sampler of what's in store in the PJ Harvey catalogue, if you're working backwards following her career. As a worshipper of Ms. Polly, I feel this is an extremely well-rounded album, a good mix of everything I've loved from the previous efforts. Like, I can hear the rawness that is ROM in the song, Who the f***? I like the blunt lyrics here, "I'm not like other girls, you can't straighten my curls." The song Slow Drug is reminisce of ITD? and so catchy! "Blue now is the colour, love the drug I'm needing, got to keep this feeling.." And Cat on the Wall is very TBYML, I think. Anyway, What I'm trying to say is every song on this album is beautiful, all melodic and each flows perfectly after the next, from the excellent opening of Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth to the most tender of endings, The Darker Days of Me & Him. And yes, even that damn minute song of nothing but seagulls chirping I find soothing, after the initial shock and me asking my great big dane, "Was that a song?" If you asked me to pick a favorite, I'd probably say The Letter but then again I also really like Shame and Pocket Knife so in the end I'll have to listen to uh huh, HER some more and get back to ya! Lucky me but buy the album and lucky you too.

It took me quite awhile to actually get through this album. But once I did, boy, was it a treat. PJ Harvey can at times be difficult to open up to, to truly listen to. But she always drags you in, in the end. This album takes you back to some of her older material, the only difference being that there seems to be a little more polish than their was on "Dry" and "Rid Of Me". The most amazing tracks on this record would have to be "Shame", "Cat On The Wall", "The Letter" and "It's You". Actually every track except for one is stellar. If it wasn't for "Who The F**k", this album would have gotten five stars from me. It's almost as if PJ Harvey is trying to be bad so to speak, by recording this type of track. To me, it does not fall into place with the rest of the track listing. Nonetheless, this is an album well worth your money.

Oh my lord, this is great. I cannot belive how good of an album this is for one that was basically a self-recorded demo. PJ has made a masterpiece with this album and i'm simply amazed by the way the music contrasts the vocals of Polly Jean Harvey in a way that makes my mind grin with pleasure. The songs on the album are all equalally fantastic and has an amazingly harmonical vibe to it. This record clearly proves that P.J. Harvey is the new Neil Young. The songs on this album are micellaneously great from everything from the NYC rocking "Who The F!#$?", the haunting bass rythms of "It's You", The slow rockin' "Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth", and the soothing, folky song(that is my personal favorite) called "End". So all pay salute to our generation's Neil Young because frankly, after making that album...she deserves it.

I have all of PJ's albums, and this could be the weakest. I'd been looking forward to her latest for a while, and she took a LONG layoff to produce something this tired. I've listened to it three times now, and it's predictable and uninspired, with most of the songs sounding like half-baked b-sides from the mid-90s. Ok, so it's a "return to the old sound," but it sounds lazy. Say what you want about how "polished" and "produced" the last one was. But "Stories From The Sea" still had some raw moments ("Big Exit" and "This is Love" come to mind) that really kick. With the exception of "Desperate Kingdom of Love" and a couple others, "Uh Huh Her" is full of a lot of those moments that just never take off. Nothing fierce and exotic to be found here. Will it grow on me? I hope so, and that's why I'll give her three stars instead of the two. She's still better than 90% of everything else that's out there. But I hold Polly Jean to higher standards than that.

Fans and detractors of Uh Huh Her alike called this album a "return to form" - which is to say, a return to misery - after the magnificent, life-affirming masterpiece that was 2000's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. I think this assessment misses the point and brilliance of Uh Huh Her, however - listening to the album, there's none of the brutality of Rid of Me, none of the metaphysical moaning of To Bring You My Love, none of the bleakness of the saddest moments of Is This Desire. Instead, I think, it's an album about the sense of confronting a return to misery from a stable part of one's life. Take the opening number, the thumping monster of a track "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth" - sure, it sees Harvey saying "Your lips taste of poison/ you'll be the unhappy one." Gone is the sense that this is coming from a place of dark self loathing, and instead is a reason to cheer, a spitting in the face of depression. That goes double for the anthem "Who The F---?" which boldly declares that no one will be able to straighten Harvey's curls - this is a moment of affirmation, not simply anger. Similarly, saying that her "Shame is the shadow of love" now sounds a lot like wisdom, and it should, Harvey no longer sounds particularly shamed. By the time she arrives armed with only a soft purr of a voice and a faint acoustic guitar at "The Desperate Kingdom of Love," undeniably one of the finest song of the entire Harvey catalogue, there's a moment of real transcendence: saying "I learned from you how to hide" sounds so peaceful and lovely, it continues the notion from Stories from the City that Harvey's made peace with the desperate kingdom where she swaggers around and can competently face "the end of this burning world." The album ends in a new Harvey favorite, "The Darker Days of Me and Him," and certainly the song is desperate and full of dark longing, but it also is an empassioned step forward - the strength to finally hear Harvey say "I long for a land with... no neuroses, no psychoses, and no sadness." She may never be in that land, but Uh Huh Her proves there's hope to be found in this one, even in its darkest days.