Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

1	Big Exit 3:51
2	Good Fortune 3:20
3	A Place Called Home 3:42
4	One Line 3:14
5	Beautiful Feeling 4:00
6	The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore 4:00
7	This Mess We're In 3:57
8	You Said Something 3:19
9	Kamikaze 2:24
10	This Is Love 3:48
11	Horses in My Dreams 5:37
12	We Float 6:09

Barnes & Noble

Polly Jean Harvey has never settled long in one stylistic locale, and her evolutions have made her one of the most fascinating and important artists of the '90s. Her sixth album, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, forgoes the arty complexities of 1998's Is This Desire? for a stripped-down, guitar-based sound reminiscent of her first albums. Performed and produced by PJ Harvey, longtime drummer Rob Ellis, and ex-Bad Seed Mick Harvey, Stories is both a summing-up and a step forward. The frantic "Kamikaze," with its falsetto chorus, could fit comfortably on 1993's Rid of Me, and the obsessive blues of "This Is Love" bears traces of 1995's classic To Bring You My Love. But most songs explore new areas that balance tuneful harmonies, straightforward hooks, and poetic imagery (often of New York City, where Harvey spent half of 1999). "Beautiful Feeling" and "The Mess We're In," both of which feature Radiohead's Thom Yorke, are quietly tense but psychologically dense portraits of isolated lovers. "Good Fortune," on the other hand, is an optimistic anthem of the kind forged by Patti Smith. "This world's crazy, give me a gun," Harvey shouts on the album opener "Big Exit"; by the final track, "We Float," she's softly praying to "take life as it comes." Stories travels on a restless, provocative, and captivating journey, and it's an exciting continuation of P. J. Harvey's evolution. Steve Klinge

All Music Guide

During her career, Polly Jean Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She's gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me's punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?'s postmodern siren; on Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea -- inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside -- she's changed again. The album cover's stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up. Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album's production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks. On the album's best tracks, such as "Kamikaze" and "This Is Love," a sexy, shouty blues-punk number that features the memorable refrain "I can't believe life is so complex/When I just want to sit here and watch you undress," Harvey sounds sensual and revitalized. The New York influences surface on the glamorous punk rock of "Big Exit" and "Good Fortune," on which Harvey channels both Chrissie Hynde's sexy tough girl and Patti Smith's ferocious yelp. Ballads like the sweetly urgent, piano and marimba-driven "One Line" and the Thom Yorke duet "This Mess We're In" avoid the painful depths of Harvey's darkest songs; "Horses in My Dreams" also reflects Harvey's new emotional balance: "I have pulled myself clear," she sighs, and we believe her. However, "We Float"'s glossy choruses veer close to Lillith Fair territory, and longtime fans can't help but miss the visceral impact of her early work, but Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea doesn't compromise her essential passion. Hopefully, this album's happier, more direct PJ Harvey is a persona she'll keep around for a while. Heather Phares

Spin Magazine

...her new disc comes dressed in a blue pea-coat, sullied and torn by human immediacy. It still ends up in the heaven of great records. Joshua Clover