http://www.fopp.com/pjharvey/

"Yet, if "Shake" was an elegiac tribute, as beautiful as it was moving, "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is as ugly and unwieldy as its title. The 11 songs here are pounding, discordant edifices, laced with cacophonous saxophone, martial drums and male choruses that almost smother the songwriter herself."

"<...> "A Line In The Sand" perversely ends with the melody from Jonathan Richman's "Egyptian Reggae" even while it asks “how to stop the murdering”."

And just for the sake of starting a new page:

Egyptian Reggae??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg7WG6tCbrw

Interesting.

This is crazy guys. I'm already in love with the album.

_________________
I'll rub it, until it...

YES! So that does mean the song I heard her record is on the album, just retitled!

I loved it - really hope it's as good as it was when I saw her recording it. As if my excitement couldn't get anymore!

So I take that to mean you remember Egyptian reggae as being part of the song?

No, I remember the the "how do we stop the murdering" lyric.

A "not so nice" review (from a person whose enjoyment of a music depends on just how idyllic the picture portrayed by the words is).

"The Ministry of Defence": "they've sprayed graffiti in Arabic and balanced sticks in human shit".

"Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln" offers bright uplift with the appearance of mellotron and flute <...>.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"When she sings, on The Ministry of Defence, "they've sprayed graffiti in Arabic and balanced sticks in human shit", you're there all at once: amidst the heat and the fizzing tension of a war zone. But you’re adrift and off balance – what to do with this? Admire it? Perhaps. Sing along? Enjoy? Flesh it out with your own - accompanying, complementary - response? As with much of this difficult record, it's a timely reminder that being hectored is rarely a very fulfilling experience." - reviewer wants to be "fulfilled" by the song about trashed (former) government building? Well, sometimes music is intended to be unsettling and thought-provoking. And "enjoyment" is not always your sing-along-ey happy-pop-music-fan category - enjoyment could also be intellectual or esthetic.

""What’s happened? Let's go and ask the Ministry of Social Affairs," she sings. Let's not, you think.That's probably not the answer, you think." - And what is the answer then? It's government responsibility to improve people's lives so they wouldn't have to beg on the street. But I presume that reviewer's "answer" would be not to do anything and listen to something "life-affirming" to forget about these people ASAP.

Once again, they want her to "find some room for answers amidst the questions – or, at least, some hint of seeking to balance negative with positive". That's right - you just HAVE TO find something positive about refugees camps, beggars, segregation, trashed buildings and empty houses, otherwise it's gonna depress civilized people. Also, Polly is not a politician to "find answers".

Oh yeah, they also say what "The Wheel" is "almost" as good as "Big Exit", which is a weird comparison in general IMO.

I can kinda see the Big Exit/The Wheel comparison. For me it's mainly the guitar in the first verse between the spoken parts. It's forceful yet melodic/catchy. But that's it.

I'm surprised more reviewers haven't failed to "get" the album. I'm sure a fair few are to come though.

Either way, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love it.

They called it The Hope Street Demolition Project. Enough said. I do like how they described it as her least beautiful record though. Bring on the ugly, dissonant and unsettling!

_________________
I'll rub it, until it...

I don't mind a negative review, theres always somebody who won't like something but this review is just bad and careless. The Hope Street Demolition Project ?? Like seriously, this is high school journalism. The whole theme of the article is that the album isn't sunny enough, which is such a shallow thing to say.

It's going to be a divisive album. Both the music and the lyrics will give a reaction. This will make people uncomfortable, it isn't meant to be nice. Politics in 2016, get ready for a bumpy ride.

Most the reviews are extremely positive. I suspect most reviewers, at least one's with a little something going on upstairs, will praise the album and then you'll have the 1/10 who just doesn't get it like the person above. He must have never listened to any avant garde music in his life, what would he say of Diamanda Galas or Lydia Lunch or even Captain Beefheart? They have lots of "ugly" music, and if anything I am attracted to the uglier more dissonant sounds.
This is PJ Harvey, she's no stranger to some dissonant heavy music ( it makes you wonder if this person has evert listened to Rid of Me, Is This Desire, or Uh Huh Her?) If it truly is her most ugly album by far, Im more excited than ever. Im literally dreaming about the tracks at this point.

So... what are the bets she wins another Mercury Prize? Or other best album awards? Or will it be deemed to similar territory to her last album?

EDIT: I'm aware we haven't heard it in full yet, but still, it's fun to guess

A new minimalistic design of official site: http://pj.deanr.co/.

The picture without album title:

She visited territories and just described what she saw
If this will make some people shake or get angry as it was referred to them I think she made a goal

can't wait to hear all the Record