Rolling Stone ran an article about this clip today.

"Hear How a Fifties Novelty Hit Influenced One of PJ Harvey’s Best Songs
“Let England Shake” demo will feature on upcoming Let England Shake – Demos release

A newly released demo of PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake” offers a rare look into her songwriting process.

The track begins with a loop of the vocal group the Four Lads’ 1958 novelty hit “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” which runs underneath her entire song. Although the song’s influence echoed in the studio version of the track, which became the title track of her 2010 LP, it was mostly in the rhythm of the percussion and guitar line. But here on the demo, you can hear Harvey singing along with the sample at the end. Another revealing moment comes when she starts playing along with the sample; it’s in a different key, adding to the chaos she’s singing about, and it foreshadows some of the dissonances of the album version.

The track will appear on Let England Shake – Demos, which contains early versions of the 12 songs that appear on the LP version of Let England Shake, which is also getting a vinyl reissue. When the album came out, it was a critical success. It won the Mercury Prize and Album of the Year in the Ivor Novello Awards. Both reissues will come out on Jan. 28. The demos’ release will also be available digitally and on CD.

The release is the latest installment of a reissue campaign Harvey kicked off last year with the demo of “Sheela-Na-Gig,” a song that later appeared on her debut album, Dry. She has subsequently offered vinyl reissues of each of her albums, as well as companion LPs of the demos."

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pj-harvey-let-england-shake-demo-1265970/#recipient_hashed=a012fec5584f1cb44b011a965a89b0726b55a84683c853f755716a7da93fbaad



*I posted the same link to the video as an tha hoping that it would embed and appear here, all I'm seeing is a big empty space, maybe it will work later...

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Excellent demo. I almost like it more than the finished version.

Agree, the dissonance created by the juxtaposition of the sample makes it a completely different song, especially in the outro.
I'm really looking forward to the rest of the demos, hoping to find more of that dislocated sound she mentioned in a few interviews (which got a bit lost in the final versions in my opinion)

LES was quite the masterpiece, and I'm so glad we're getting this "raw" version. Out of all her records - White Chalk, A Woman a Man Walked By, Let England Shake - are my favorites.

I wonder how many songs Polly recorded for LES? The Nightingale, The Big Guns Called Me Back Again are two that come to mind. Were there more? And, are there demos for these as well?

Thank god she abandoned that twangy voice... it's interesting to see that she was searching for the right way to sing these songs though.

As expected, these LES demos are turning out to be fascinating. I didn't expect the whole song to be based on that Eddie Cochran loop. Can't wait to hear "Written on the Forehead" now!

Why no CD available on Amazon UK yet? The release date is imminent

Fascinating is right! I love it!

I've forgotten: is Hope Six Demolition Project going to be rereleased/remastered on vinyl, as all the others are? Thanks.

Hope 6 released and signed Demos albim sold out in 10 mins, grrr. Was looking forward to this one after getting to see some of the demo process..

I guess I have my answer, and yeah, that thing sold out like fast.