I'm wearing out the grooves on my iPhone as I listen again and again to PJ Harvey's new release, "Let England Shake." It's easily the best collection of music I've bought in the last five years, and with the album priced at $7.99 on iTunes, it's ridiculously and wonderfully priced so that anyone can afford it.
And if that's not enough to convince a person to try it, there's a fantastic video of PJ Harvey and her band performing one of the songs from the release, "The Last Living Rose," in the studio of The Guardian.
A note of caution: no silly summer songs exist in this collection. It's a serious consideration of the cycle of war, death, and nationalism that seems so unshakeable in human affairs. The music is beautiful but its lyrics explore dark themes that ask, "How is our glorious country ploughed?"
Take a chance with "Let England Shake;" it is a work of art worthy of repeated listening.
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