Following the tour for
Rid of Me
,
Polly Harvey
parted ways with
Robert Ellis
and
Stephen Vaughn
, leaving her free to expand her music from the bluesy
punk
that dominated
PJ Harvey
's first two albums. It also left her free to experiment with her style of songwriting. Where
Dry
seemed brutally honest,
To Bring You My Love
feels theatrical, with each song representing a grand gesture. Relying heavily on religious metaphors and imagery borrowed from the
blues
Harvey
has written a set of songs that are lyrically reminiscent of
Nick Cave
's and
Tom Waits
' literary excursions into the gothic American heartland. Since she was a product of
post-punk
, she's nowhere near as literally bluesy as
Cave
or
Waits
, preferring to embellish her songs with shards of avant guitar, eerie keyboards, and a dense, detailed production. It's a far cry from the primitive guitars of her first two albums, but
pulls it off with style, since her songwriting is tighter and more melodic than before; the menacing
"Down by the Water"
has genuine hooks, as does the psycho stomp of
"Meet Ze Monsta,"
the wailing
"Long Snake Moan,"
and the stately
"C'Mon Billy."
The clear production by
Flood
, and
John Parish
makes these growths evident, which in turn makes
her most accessible album, even if the album lacks the indelible force of its predecessors. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine