The Hope Six Demolition Project

The Hope Six Demolition Project
Studio album by PJ Harvey
Released 15 April 2016
Recorded 16 January 2015–14 February 2015 [1]
Studio Somerset House, London, United Kingdom
Genre Alternative rock, indie rock, neo-psychedelia, folk rock
Length 41:51
Label
Producer
PJ Harvey chronology
Let England Shake
(2011)		 The Hope Six Demolition Project
(2016)
Singles from The Hope Six Demolition Project
  1. "The Wheel"
    Released: 22 January 2016
  2. "The Community of Hope"
    Released: 11 March 2016
  3. "The Orange Monkey"
    Released: 7 April 2016

The Hope Six Demolition Project is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey[2] released on 15 April 2016 on Island Records, the album is Harvey's first since her acclaimed Mercury Prize-winning album Let England Shake, released in 2011.[3]

The album's title is a reference to the HOPE VI projects in the United States, "where run-down public housing in areas with high crime rates has been demolished to make room for better housing, but with the effect that many previous residents could no longer afford to live there, leading to claims of social cleansing."[4] The HOPE VI program is directly referenced in the album's opening track and second single "The Community of Hope". The title is inspired by Harvey's trip to Washington D.C. with photographer/filmmaker Seamus Murphy where she was given a tour by Paul Schwartzman of The Washington Post,[5] who directly influenced some of the lyrics on the song.[6] Upon its release, the song drew criticism directly from politicians running for the council seat in Ward 7 in Washington, D.C.[7]

Background and development

Harvey wrote the songs for The Hope Six Demolition Project as well as her poetry book The Hollow of the Hand[8] during her travels to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington D.C. with photographer/filmmaker Seamus Murphy between 2011 and 2014.[3]

Recording

The album was created in sessions open to the public as part of an art installation at Somerset House in London called Recording in Progress. The sessions were forty-five minutes each in length and began on 16 January 2015 and concluded on February 14, 2015.[1] Viewers could see Harvey create the album through one-way glass with producers Flood and John Parish, who both worked on Harvey's previous album, Let England Shake.[9]

Cell phones and devices with recording capabilities were confiscated before entering and viewers were led to a basement-level room. During the first viewing, she was working on a song called "Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln", which is featured on the album.[10] Harvey was reportedly playing violin, harmonica and hurdy-gurdy.[11] It was also reported that she was joined by musicians Terry Edwards and James Johnston and that Seamus Murphy was filming the entire thing.[12]

Release

Both of the album's singles were premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music the day before their release. "The Wheel" was premiered on Steve Lamacq's show on BBC Radio 6 Music on 21 January 2016, the day before its release on 22 January 2016. Lamacq also revealed the album's release date to be 15 April 2016.[13] "The Community of Hope" was premiered on Shaun Keaveny's show on BBC Radio 6 Music on 10 March 2016, the day before its release on 11 March 2016.[14] "The Orange Monkey" was released as the album's third single on 7 April 2016.[15]

The music video for "The Wheel" was released on 1 February 2016 and the music video for "The Community of Hope" was released on 18 March 2016. Both videos were directed by Seamus Murphy.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Drowned in Sound8/10[18]
Exclaim!9/10[19]
Pitchfork7.6/10[20]
Slant Magazine [21]

The Hope Six Demolition Project received wide acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 31 reviews, which indicates a "generally favourable" reception.[16]

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune praised the album, writing that the it "builds masterfully to a powerful, closing one-two punch."[22]

Other responses

Upon its release, the opening track and second single, "The Community of Hope", drew criticism directly from politicians running for the council seat in Ward 7 in Washington, D.C., with former DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray saying, "I will not dignify this inane composition with a response," and his campaign treasurer Chuck Thies insulting Harvey with, "PJ Harvey is to music what Piers Morgan is to cable news."[7] Grant Thompson, a pastor and former Congressional staffer running for the Ward 7 council seat, stated that Harvey "needs to see more of the city."[7]

The Hope Six Demolition Project's lyrical content has been criticized for merely alluding towards issues with seemingly no propositions towards solutions. Laura Snapes of Pitchfork Media asked, "By pointing out the problems in these three communities, but proposing no solutions, is she (Harvey) just as responsible for their desertion as the global powers that came before her?"[20]

The World Socialist Web Site reviewed the album favorably, writing that it is "a powerful work that captures the sorrow of the people she encountered while still managing to convey a spirit of resilience and hopefulness." Reviewer Matthew MacEgan goes on to criticize Harvey's "affluent, middle-class critics" who "are clearly disturbed and frightened by the political implications of the work. Harvey’s turn away from making music more palatable to better-off social layers committed to identity politics in favor of pursuing questions of war and social inequality has no doubt angered them as well." The review praises Harvey for "compassion toward the people she encountered" and her "efforts to expose the degradation visited on different parts of the world by great power imperialism".[23]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by PJ Harvey. 

No. Title Length
1. "The Community of Hope"   2:23
2. "The Ministry of Defence"   4:11
3. "A Line in the Sand"   3:33
4. "Chain of Keys"   3:09
5. "River Anacostia"   4:56
6. "Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln"   2:59
7. "The Orange Monkey"   2:47
8. "Medicinals"   2:19
9. "The Ministry of Social Affairs"   4:10
10. "The Wheel"   5:38
11. "Dollar, Dollar"   5:34
Total length:
 41:51

Personnel

Musicians

Guest musicians

Technical personnel

Art personnel

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 7
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 8
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[28] 38
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[29] 14
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[30] 4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[31] 16
French Albums (SNEP)[32] 5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 11
Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI)[35] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[36] 7
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[37] 2
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[38] 13
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[39] 6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[40] 8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[41] 4
UK Albums (OCC)[42] 1
US Billboard 200[43] 63

References

  1. 1 2 "PJ Harvey: Recording in Progress at Somerset House". Somerset House. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  2. ↑ Elias Leight. "PJ Harvey Details The Hope Six Demolition Project". The Fader. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 Evan Minsker and Amy Phillips. "PJ Harvey Announces New Album The Hope Six Demolition Project". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Gush, Charlotte (2016-01-21). "pj harvey announces new album, the hope six demolition project". i-D. Vice Media. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  5. ↑ Schwartzman, Paul (2016-03-18). "I gave a famous rock star a windshield tour of D.C. — and didn’t know who she was". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  6. ↑ Gaca, Anna (2016-03-18). "PJ Harvey Goes to Washington in New Video for ‘The Community of Hope’". Spin. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  7. 1 2 3 Kurzius, Rachel (2016-03-15). "Ward 7 Council Candidates Respond To PJ Harvey's New Song". DCist. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  8. ↑ "The Hollow of the Hand: PJ Harvey: Bloomsbury Circus". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  9. ↑ Minsker, Evan (2015-01-17). "PJ Harvey Begins Recording New Album in Public". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  10. ↑ Coomer, Martin (2015-01-16). "PJ Harvey’s ‘Recording in Progress’: what to expect". Now. Here. This. Time Out London. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  11. ↑ Cooper, Leonie (2015-01-16). "PJ Harvey works on song 'Near The Memorials To Vietnam And Lincoln' at first public studio session". NME. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  12. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2015-01-16). "Brilliantly frustrating: fans peer into PJ Harvey’s Recording in Progress". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  13. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (2015-01-18). "PJ Harvey Previews New Single". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  14. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon (2015-03-10). "PJ Harvey Shares "The Community of Hope"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  15. ↑ Camp, Zoe (2016-04-07). "PJ Harvey Shares New Song "The Orange Monkey:" Listen". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  16. 1 2 "The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Phares, Heather (15 April 2016). "The Hope Six Demolition Project - PJ Harvey". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Lukowski, Andrzej (11 April 2016). "Album Review: PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Schulz, Cosette (13 April 2016). "PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Exclaim!. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  20. 1 2 Snapes, Laura (14 April 2016). "PJ Harvey: The Hope Six Demolition Project Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Slant review".
  22. ↑ Kot, Greg (8 April 2016). "PJ Harvey's 'Hope Six' unleashes powerful new protest music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  23. ↑ MacEgan, Matthew (22 April 2016). "The Hope Six Demolition Project: PJ Harvey takes on war and global poverty". World Socialist Web Site. ICFI.
  24. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "Ultratop.be – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "Ultratop.be – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  28. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for PJ Harvey. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  29. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  30. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  31. ↑ "PJ Harvey: The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  32. ↑ "Lescharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  33. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  34. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 16, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  35. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  36. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  38. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  40. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  41. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  42. ↑ "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  43. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Chart history" Billboard 200 for PJ Harvey. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
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