Pitchfork

Polly Jean Harvey returns this fall with the follow-up to 2004's Uh Huh Her, new album White Chalk. She whetted our appetites last year with her quite good The Peel Sessions: 1991-2004 compilation, and now she's giving us a taste of what she's been up to in the meantme. "When Under Ether", an early stream from White Chalk, shows a new focus on fragile piano rather than guitar, singing at a high, girlish pitch about lying undressed on the bed and looking at the ceiling. "Human kindness," she sighs, and then turns toward "the woman beside" her.

Stream:> PJ Harvey: "When Under Ether"
[from White Chalk; due 09/25/07 on Island]