By the time of 2000's
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea,
PJ Harvey was still finding ways to reinvent her music. While the album's sonics were even smoother than on Is This Desire?,
Harvey traded her previous record's moody character studies for direct songwriting that feels even more genuine on
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea: The Demos. As on her previous collections of sketches,
Harvey's strategies for her songs are clearly mapped out. Aside from the trip-hop-tinged beats on "A Place for Us" and "We Float," there are few drastic differences from the demos to the finished versions, but even when the instrumentation is as simple as
Harvey and her guitar, it never feels like anything is missing. This raw minimalism heightens the songs' intimacy, particularly on "This Mess We're In," where
Harvey sings alone instead of being joined by
Thom Yorke, and on the somber sensuality of "Beautiful Feeling."
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea's undercurrent of happiness -- one of its most surprising but welcome artistic choices -- jumps out loud and clear on a throaty rendition of "Good Fortune" and an emphatic "This Is Love." As demos, the album's rockers feel lean and unencumbered:
Harvey's spine-tingling wails and fuzzed-out guitar have all the crackling immediacy of a live performance on "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore." Elsewhere, tributes to the power of New York City like "Big Exit" and "Kamikaze" pay homage to
Patti Smith and hint at the energy that was about to burst forth from acts like
the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. While
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea's glossy rock and straightforward ballads were different than anything else in
Harvey's body of work, the album's demos remain consistently entertaining for fans who want to hear her music come into being. ~ Heather Phares