Watch PJ Harvey Debut New Music At The Hollow Of The Hand Book Launch
Last night — on her birthday! — PJ Harvey and photographer Seamus Murphy, who previously collaborated on a series of short films for Let England Shake, premiered their new poetry book The Hollow Of The Hand in a multimedia performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall, Pitchfork reports. Accompanied by photographs and films from Murphy, Harvey read poems from the collection and, even more excitingly, performed new songs from her upcoming ninth album, the one she recorded in a public art installation and sold lyric sheets for earlier this year.
The performance was divided into three sections — Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, DC, where Harvey and Murphy traveled between 2011 and 2014 to put the book together. Joined by longtime collaborator John Parish and Gallon Drunk’s James Johnston, Harvey played guitar and keyboards and debuted ten new songs: “Chain Of Keys,” “The Wheel,” “The Orange Monkey”, “Dollar Dollar,” “The Community of Hope,” “Homo Sappy Blues,” “Medicinals,” “Near The Memorials To Vietnam And Lincoln,” “River Anacostia,” and “The Ministry Of Social Affairs,” which samples Jerry McCain & His Upstarts’ “That’s What They Want.”
You can watch a few clips from the performance below, and read some poems from The Hollow Of The Hand with accompanying photos by Murphy over at The Guardian.
The Hollow Of The Hand is out 10/20 via Bloomsbury Circus.
