Bryn de Bear

Bryn’s Music Selection // PJ Harvey

Today’s #brynsmusicselection involves a love story!

Exactly 4 years and 8 month ago my parents were in car – they only new each other for a brief time then – and they were listening to the amazing @pjharveyofficial. As they turned on a roundabout, a beautiful sunset appeared above them literally at same moment as PJ start singing “the city sunset over me” from mum’s favourite song in the world “this mess we’re in” featuring Thom York’s. They looked at each other and smiled, they went out for a beer that evening and have been inseparable every since. The happiest Friday 13th ever!

Polly Jean Harvey MBE (born 9 October 1969) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.

Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automatic Dlamini as a vocalist, guitarist and saxophone player. The band’s frontman, John Parish, would become her long-term collaborator. In 1991, she formed an eponymous trio and subsequently began her professional career. The trio released two studio albums, Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993) before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist. Since 1995, she has released a further nine studio albums with collaborations from various musicians including John Parish, former bandmate Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey and Eric Drew Feldman and has also worked extensively with record producer Flood.

Among the accolades she has received are the 2001 and 2011 Mercury Prize for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000 )and Let England Shake (2011), respectively — the only artist to have been awarded the prize twice —eight Brit Award nominations, seven Grammy Award nominations and two further Mercury Prize nominations. Rolling Stone awarded her 1992’s Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter and 1995’s Artist of the Year and listed Rid of Me, To Bring You My Love (1995) and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. In 2011, she was awarded for Outstanding Contribution To Music at the NME Awards. In June 2013, she was awarded an MBE for services to music.