The ghostly trunks of eucalypts sway and rattle above the stage as PJ Harvey premieres her Australian tour at Perth’s Kings Park. It’s a fitting backdrop for a tour showcasing the British artist’s 2023 Grammy-nominated album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, which ventures deep into the woodlands and folklore of Dorset, where she grew up.
Harvey is as ethereal as the setting itself, gliding on to the stage in a flowing white dress patterned with tree trunks. She lingers in the darkness, waiting for the applause to fade before stepping into a solitary beam of light. Then she opens with the reverential Prayer at the Gate. “Look behind, look before … life knocking at death’s door,” she sings in pure, piercing vocals. Like an incantation, it’s mesmerising and almost theatrical, albeit not quite the PJ Harvey audiences are used to.
Tuesday’s performance is a striking departure from the artist who last toured Australia in 2017, a year after releasing The Hope Six Demolition Project – a raw, politically charged album that exposed the stark realities of war, poverty and displacement. The album’s writing took her to Kosovo, Afghanistan and the United States, and in its aftermath she admitted she had considered stepping away from music altogether.
Six years later, her eighth studio album takes a deeply introspective turn, transforming her poetry collection Orlam into 12 enigmatic tracks that blur the lines between folklore, memory and dream. Written partially in the Dorset dialect, it follows a year in the life of the fictional Ira-Abel, a nine-year-old girl navigating childhood, desire, death and transformation in a mystical version of rural England.
Tonight, Harvey and her band bring I Inside the Old Year Dying to life with an immersive, almost cinematic quality, alongside a deep dive through her epic back catalogue. The show is littered with echoes of Harvey’s childhood in Dorset, from birdsong to warped school bells, while nature-inspired visuals bloom across the screen behind them.
In Autumn Term – performed with longtime collaborator John Parish – the stage glows with imagery of cracked crimson earth as Harvey twirls and writhes across it. It’s part ballet, part fever dream. Then comes Lwonesome Tonight, a peculiar yet sonically rich track, layered with harmonies and subtle synth undertones. Woven with Elvis references, it draws from Orlam’s Wyman-Elvis, a Christ-like character embodying love and desire – a fitting tribute from Harvey, who adored Elvis as a child.
The energy shifts as she picks up an acoustic guitar for the album’s title track. Thumping, urgent, it offers a glimpse of Harvey the rock goddess. She stands firm, commanding. Over the years, she has played guitar, saxophone, autoharp and piano and, tonight, she moves between instruments effortlessly.
As the set moves into her back catalogue, The Colour of the Earth takes centre stage. A song from 2011’s Let England Shake, it explores the battle at Gallipoli in the first world war. The band steps forward, playing without Harvey, evoking a solemn marching band.
When she re-emerges, she’s in a sleek white dress, launching into the electrifying 50ft Queenie, followed by Man-Size and Black Hearted Love. Now, she’s all swagger and sass, prowling the stage like a 90s grunge frontwoman.
But the most spellbinding moment is her stripped-back The Desperate Kingdom of Love. Under a single spotlight, with just a guitar, her exquisite, velvety voice fills the space. The audience is dead silent. It’s breathtaking.
She closes with a raucous, smoke-drenched To Bring You My Love, the stage bathed in pink and purple light. Then, finally, she addresses the audience. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” she says warmly. “Thank you so much for coming.”
After five minutes of roaring applause, the band returns for an encore. They begin with C’mon Billy, a tender track about a woman’s plea for her lover to return. Then Harvey closes with White Chalk, a homage to the cliffs of Dorset – the place whose imagination has loomed large through all of tonight’s set. It’s a fitting tribute.
• PJ Harvey tours across Australia until 15 March 2025, with shows in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
