White Chalk

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White Chalk
A woman sitting in an upright position in a white Victorian era dress. To her left, white text reads "PJ Harvey White Chalk."
Studio album by PJ Harvey solo
Released 24 September 2007 (2007-09-24)
Recorded November 2006–March 2007
Genre
Length 33:57
Label Island
Producer Flood, John Parish, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey solo chronology
Uh Huh Her
(2004)Uh Huh Her2004		 White Chalk
(2007)		 Let England Shake
(2011)
PJ Harvey chronology
Uh Huh Her
(2004)		 White Chalk
(2007)		 A Woman A Man Walked By
(2009)

Let England Shake2011
Singles from White Chalk
  1. "When Under Ether"
    Released: 17 September 2007
  2. "The Piano"
    Released: 3 December 2007
  3. "The Devil"
    Released: 18 March 2008

White Chalk is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 24 September 2007 on Island Records.[3]

Work on the album started in 2006, with producer Flood and John Parish, who also worked on her To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? albums. Other collaborators on White Chalk are Eric Drew Feldman and Jim White from Dirty Three.[4]

The first single to be released from White Chalk was "When Under Ether" on 17 September 2007 on digital download and 7" vinyl. A second single, "The Piano," was released on 26 November 2007. A third, "The Devil," was released on 7", download, and CD formats in March 2008.

Style

The previous album Uh Huh Her had a raw sound[5] but for this record White Chalk, Rolling Stone 's magazine noted that Harvey "delved further into a Goth-like vibe in the much quieter, haunting, piano-based music".[5] For this album she gave up the traditional three-piece sound guitar/bass/drums and recorded a set of songs for piano, despite her lack of expertise on the instrument. In an interview in The Wire she explained "the great thing about learning a new instrument from scratch is that it [...] liberates your imagination."[6]

Vocally, she sang in a much higher register than usual, at a pitch outside her normal range and "howled about being possessed by demon lovers and ghosts".[7] Lyrically, Harvey continued with the dark, moody themes typical of much of her music.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 80/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[1]
The A.V. Club A–[9]
Entertainment Weekly C[10]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[11]
NME 7/10[12]
Pitchfork Media 6.8/10[13]
Q 4/5 stars[14]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[7]
Slant Magazine 5/5 stars[15]
Spin 3.5/5 stars[16]

White Chalk received generally positive reviews and has a score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic.[8] The Observer gave the album 5 stars out of 5,[17] while Robert Christgau picked out one song from the album, "When Under Ether", as a "choice cut" ((choice cut)).[18]

Formats

The US release is available on CD and 33⅓ rpm LP. The UK release is available on CD and 45 rpm vinyl record. White Chalk is also available on iTunes complete with a bonus track, "Wait".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by PJ Harvey. 

No. Title Length
1. "The Devil"   2:55
2. "Dear Darkness"   3:09
3. "Grow Grow Grow"   3:21
4. "When Under Ether"   2:22
5. "White Chalk"   3:06
6. "Broken Harp"   1:57
7. "Silence"   3:05
8. "To Talk to You"   4:00
9. "The Piano"   2:36
10. "Before Departure"   3:45
11. "The Mountain"   3:10
Total length:
 33:57
iTunes[19] bonus track
No. Title Length
12. "Wait"   2:17
Total length:
 36:14

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[20]

Chart positions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ PJ Harvey to return with new album NME.com 7 February 2007, Retrieved on 07-07-07
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. N.B. User must select the weekly chart from the drop-down lists. For White Chalk, select 2007 > Ottobre > (Settimana 41).
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter White Chalk in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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