PJ Harvey co-wrote original songs for London Tide, a new stage musical based on Charles Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend that opened in London today.
Harvey has now shared a demo of herself performing one of the songs from the production, "Eugene Alone," which you can listen to below.
The song "Eugene Alone" is performed in London Tide by the character Eugene Wrayburn, played in the National Theatre production by actor Jamael Westman.
"Jamael has been wonderful to work with and understands all of the emotions that needed to be conveyed within the song," Harvey said.
The National Theatre has also shared Westman's rendition of the song in rehearsals for the show, which you can compare to Harvey's original demo below.
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Ian Rickson is directing the show, and playwright Ben Power adapted the script and co-wrote the lyrics with Harvey.
"Whenever I approached writing a song for a character I would discuss with Ben and Ian what the character is going through at that time, and what emotion needed to be expressed through the music," Harvey explained in a statement. "We would talk about what had happened immediately before, what was going to happen next, time of day or night... As the play evolved we began to see how we could make the songs work hard for us in a way that meant that Ben could edit text from the body of the play as the song had expressed much of it."
Power said, “It’s been the most enormous pleasure and thrill to work with Polly on these lyrics and to watch her create this timeless and transcendent music. The songs in London Tide jump out of the play to express character, emotion and theme, combining Dickens’ vast portrait of the city with Polly’s extraordinary musical imagination.”
Rickson added, “I loved watching Polly feel into the distinctive sensibilities of different characters at key moments in their lives, and find music for them. The music has a timeless directness that transcends genre and style, so evocative in our stage world.”
PJ Harvey will mount her first full U.S. tour since 2017 this summer.
Last summer, Harvey released I Inside the Old Year Dying, her first new full-length album since The Hope Six Demolition Project back in 2016. And in September, she will support the release by embarking on her first North American tour in seven years.
06/01 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/06 – Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound
06/07 – Madrid, ES @ Noches del Botánico
06/07-06/09 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
06/12-06/15 – Bergen, NO @ Bergenfest
06/29-07/06 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/04 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
08/07-08/10 – Oslo, NO @ Øyafestivalen
08/08 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
08/09-08/11 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
08/13 – Berlin, DE @ Zitadelle Spandau
08/15 – Charleville-Mézières, FR @ Cabaret Vert
08/18 – London, UK @ Gunnersbury Park
08/20 –Halifax, UK @ The Piece Hall
08/22 – Belfast, UK @ Custom House Square
08/25 – Paris, FR @ Rock en Seine
09/11 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
09/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
09/15-9/16 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
09/18 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall Fenway
09/21 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell
09/25-9/24 – Toronto, ON @ History
09/28 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre
09/30 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
10/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre
10/06 – Seattle, WA @ The Paramount Theatre
10/07 – Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds
10/10-10/11 – San Francisco, CA @ Masonic
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
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