PJ Harvey has come a long way from the sexual politics of earlier releases like Rid Of Me. No longer singing about the licking of various bodily appendages (legs, you pervert) new single, ‘The Glorious Land’, plays rather like some late proletarian anthem commissioned by an especially sadistic farmer (it’s actually very deep and about the war in Afghanistan but hey-ho). Personally, my favourite thing about the song is the occasional interjection, seemingly at random, of a bugle call so utterly out of time that I can’t help but be reminded of school music lessons and the fun of mercilessly sabotaging keyboard recitals with the demo button. Still, for me, Harvey’s almost wilful indifference to such vapid musical formalities as rhythm is nothing if not admirable. Give it a listen.
6/10
