PJ Harvey has shared an atmospheric new single A Child's Question, August, as the first taste of her upcoming tenth album.
The release of the folk-orientated track comes with the announcement that I Inside the Old Year Dying, the follow-up to her 2016 album The Hope Six Demolition Project, is scheduled to emerge on July 7 via Partisan.
The video for A Child's Question, August was directed by renowned photographer Steve Gullick, and sees English singer-songwriter Harvey performing under a montage of visuals, such as serene landscapes and lyric sheets, which layer across the screen.
Harvey describes her forthcoming project as “a resting space, a solace, a comfort, a balm—which feels timely for the times we’re in", and reveals that despite her last album emerging seven years ago, the new songs -"all came out of me in about three weeks".
She continues, "I think the album is about searching, looking - the intensity of first love, and seeking meaning. Not that there has to be a message, but the feeling I get from the record is one of love – it’s tinged with sadness and loss, but it’s loving. I think that's what makes it feel so welcoming: so open."
Produced by longtime collaborators Flood and John Parish, I Inside the Old Year Dying was created via a series of “spontaneous performances”. Harvey explains: “The studio was set up for live play, and that’s all we did."
Watch the video for A Child's Question, August below:
I Inside the Old Year Dying tracklist:
1. Prayer at the Gate
2. Autumn Term
3. Lwonesome Tonight
4. Seem an I
5. The Nether-edge
6. I Inside the Old Year Dying
7. All Souls
8. A Child’s Question, August
9. I Inside the Old I Dying
10. August
11. A Child’s Question, July
12. A Noiseless Noise
