''Uh Huh Her'' is the sixth
studio album by English
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
musician
PJ Harvey. The album was written, recorded and produced over a two-year period by the singer-songwriter herself. She also played every instrument on the album (the first such project since ''
4-Track Demos
''4-Track Demos'' is an album of demos by British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. It was released in October 1993 by Island Records. It consists of eight demos of songs from her previous album, ''Rid of Me'', along with six demos of some unrelea ...
'' in 1993) with the exception of the final drum tracks, added by long-time collaborator
Rob Ellis. It was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom, and 8 June 2004 in the United States.
During the accompanying tour that lasted eight months,
she performed the album's unreleased title-track. ''Uh Huh Her'' debuted and peaked at number 12 in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and has been certified Silver by the
BPI. It became Harvey's highest charting album to date in the U.S., peaking at number 29 in the
''Billboard'' 200, and had sold more than 135,000 copies there as of 2005, according to AskBillboard.
Although it charted higher than ''
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea'' in many territories, ''Uh Huh Her'' failed to achieve its predecessor's chart longevity and crossover interest.
The album received largely positive reviews upon its release, although there was some criticism of its production. It currently holds a 79 out of 100 metascore at ''
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
'' based upon 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''Uh Huh Her'' also earned PJ Harvey nominations to awards such as the
Grammy Awards and the
Brit Awards
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
.
History
The album was written and recorded over a two-year period in Dorset, East Devon and Los Angeles. Much of the recording was done alone by Harvey using her four-track and eight-track home studio, guitar, keyboards and drum machine. For the first time since 1993's ''
4-Track Demos
''4-Track Demos'' is an album of demos by British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. It was released in October 1993 by Island Records. It consists of eight demos of songs from her previous album, ''Rid of Me'', along with six demos of some unrelea ...
'' album, she produced it herself and played every instrument bar the final drum tracks, which were handled by her longtime collaborator
Rob Ellis. Final recording and mixing was done by Head at the Presshouse Studio in rural East Devon in autumn/winter 2003.
Harvey told ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'' magazine, "I don't think 'tender' is a word that could be applied to anything I've written before, but that's how I feel about this album and I'm really pleased about it. Some of the songs are very gentle, very loving; with others I had a lot of fun in the words I used and the way I sang them." She explained to ''
Time Out'' magazine how she "wanted to get back to the earthy, rootsy, more dirty side of things" following the popular success of her last album, 2000's ''Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea''. She said, "I wanted this record to be simple, I wanted it to be ugly in some places, I wanted it to have a swagger to it... but also a real honesty and intimacy. I wanted a warmness and closeness and I wanted to make a welcoming record." To
''Spin'' magazine she said that, in contrast to the extreme darkness of some of her earlier LPs, "I find an enormous amount of openness and hope on this record... "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" or "You Come Through" I find incredibly optimistic and tender." Harvey also explained to ''Tracks'' magazine that, "I was looking for distressed, debased sounds. So all of the guitars are either tuned so low that it's hard to detect what notes they're playing or they're baritone guitars or they're played through the shittiest amps I could find."
On the inside sleeve of the album cover are a long set of self-portrait photographs that Harvey took over the years, and a series of scribbled annotations she collected during the songwriting process of ''Uh Huh Her'' – notes to herself such as "Scare yourself", "Too normal? Too PJ H?" and "All that matters is my voice and my story" (a piece of advice given to her by her friend
Elvis Costello). She admitted to ''Shaken Stir'' that producing the record on her own was "a completely draining, disorientating, exasperating, invigorating experience" and "one of the hardest pieces of work I've ever done... I couldn't say that this record was an enjoyable experience. I think it was a journey that I learnt an enormous amount from, but certainly there were very enjoyable moments... I mean when I look back on it now it was a very difficult, hard and taxing time, and yet I'm so glad I did it – so glad."
Harvey underwent an eight month world tour
in support of the album with drummer Rob Ellis and two new bandmates, bass player Dingo and guitarist
Josh Klinghoffer
Josh Adam Klinghoffer (born October 3, 1979) is an American musician best known for being the guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, with whom he recorded two studio albums, '' I'm with You'' (2011) and '' The Geta ...
. The tour was captured for the DVD ''
On Tour: Please Leave Quietly''.
A song called "Uh Huh Her" was regularly played during the tour, but not included on the album. It was eventually recorded for the digital compilation ''
iTunes Originals – PJ Harvey''. On the origin of album's title PJ Harvey mentioned it in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' in 2004: "But it came from the chorus of a song, actually — there’s a song called “Uh Huh Her” that I play live but I chose never to record. The chorus is: “Don’t marry uh huh her/Don’t marry her her her.”"
Reception
''Uh Huh Her'' was released in May 2004 in the UK and peaked at #12 in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. The album was preceded by lead single "The Letter", which reached #28 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. ''Uh Huh Her'' became PJ Harvey's highest-charting record on the US
''Billboard'' charts, reaching #29. Overall, however, it did not spark the same level of crossover interest as its million-selling predecessor ''
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea''. As usual with Harvey, the critical reception was generally strong: ''
Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' described the record as "profoundly moving", ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' called it "raw, dark and beautiful... a jagged, edgy winner", and ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' noted that "No singer since
Janis Joplin has moved as easily between primal scream and intimate sigh". ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' hailed it as "a thrilling, bone-rattling barrage, interleaved with moments of hushed, accordion-flecked intimacy whose closeness and apparent candour make you want to shield yourself from their passion." ''
Hot Press
''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes.
History
''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
'' magazine, meanwhile, felt it was "an extremely potent record... that contains more perspectives, characters and camera angles than maybe any PJ album to date". It won Harvey her sixth
BRIT Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
nomination, as Best British Female Artist, and her fifth
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nomination, for Best Alternative Music Performance of 2004.
Accolades
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from ''Uh Huh Her''s liner notes.
[ Retrieved 3 November 2012.]
*
PJ Harvey – vocals, guitars, bass, piano,
melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...
, accordion,
autoharp,
producer,
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
,
mixing, photography
*
Rob Ellis – drums,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
, backing vocals
(3)
*Head – backing vocals
(3, 5), engineer, mixing
*Evelyn Isaac – backing vocals
(7, 14)
;Technical
*
Maria Mochnacz –
artwork
*Rob Crane – artwork
Charts
Weekly charts
Singles
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2004 albums
PJ Harvey albums
Island Records albums
Lo-fi music albums