8/10

As one of the more progressive and adventurous artists the UK has produced in recent decades, PJ Harvey's tenure to date has been one of the most explorative and enigmatic we can think of. While originally carving herself on the outer rims of the Britpop scene in the 90s, she has since spent the last twenty years reinventing her sound in pursuit of something more diverse and otherworldly, making her the first artist in history to win the coveted Mercury Music Prize twice. Now after a six-year gap since her last outing 'The Hope Six Demolition Project', she returns with her tenth studio album 'I Inside The Old Year Dying', a record that rebrands her sound once again.

From the very start of this new release, it feels like 'I Inside The Old Year Dying' is another bold and inventive step into the unknown for the artist at the helm. With a tracklist brimming with grammatically ambivalent titles, her latest collection is a strange yet compelling return that sets her in her most experimental light to date. Capturing this wonderfully poetic guise that spreads itself across a sprawling and ambient instrumentation throughout, PJ Harvey is entering yet another vibrant phase in her career after an already well-accomplished thirty-year run.

While it does feel like a strong step away from the material she first found fame with, 'I Inside The Old Year Dying' is a beautifully composed and fascinating listening experience. Finding a new direction this late into one's career is never an easy feat, but Harvey sounds so confident and assured in her aesthetic, it is hard not to get swept up by it all.