Polly Jean Harvey stands among the most influential figures in music, a veteran who can chart any course she desires. She could release another solo record, or drop a singularly peculiar one-off track like “Voyager,” a piece in which she adopts the voice of the Voyager 6 probe. Collaboration is also part of her repertoire. Her latest LP, I Inside The Old Year Dying, landed in 2023, and she doesn’t appear eager to rush another full album. Instead, she lends her voice to fresh recordings by a pair of adventurous composers.
Today, Shida Shahabi, the Iranian-born, Stockholm-based composer, unveiled a new album titled First Light At Hand. The leading track, a primordial drone named “Wreath,” runs for about six and a half minutes. Harvey co-wrote the song with Shahabi, performs on it, and delivers a striking performance. Harvey has long admired Shahabi. A couple of years back, Harvey curated the Gunnersbury Park Festival and invited Shahabi to perform. They met there and have remained friends since. Here is Harvey’s take on “Wreath”:
When Shida first sent me the piece that became “Wreath,” I was instantly drawn to its deep, earthy weight and the way it slowly grew and shifted, almost like a living thing. I sensed that Shida wanted the piece to carry words, something she doesn’t often feel, so I felt she knew best what the words should express. I asked her to write a page of freeform wording inspired by the music. The words could be as unstructured as she liked, even nonsensical.
I used her text as the base of the song, adding and trimming here and there. We discussed a desire for simplicity and a cyclical feel—a sense of life and death, beginnings and endings, mirroring the natural world around us.
I kept my melodic line deliberately plain and repetitive to align with the music’s gradual changes. It took us some time to decide how the piece should end, but I adore how Shida has looped my vocal and treated it as one would treat an instrument sample.
I’m proud to be part of this singular and hypnotic new album.
And Shahabi offers her perspective:
This was one of the first pieces I began working on for the album, building the foundation with overtones and slow progressions. Early on I felt the music was designed for someone else to step in and contribute, and it all came together naturally when Polly Harvey—my friend and a remarkable artist—came on board after we crossed paths in London about two years ago.
Polly asked me to write words in a freeform manner during the process, and a pattern emerged that Polly then shaped into something beautiful. It’s been a special and meaningful journey working with this track. I’m in awe of the care and dedication poured into it. My heart is full.
Watch and listen to “Wreath” below.
Harvey has also collaborated recently with another composer. Oliver Leith, the British musician behind the Kurt Cobain-inspired opera Last Days, released Doom And The Dooms last month. The album was recorded with Sean Shibe, GBSR Duo, and 12 Ensemble and is described as being “recreated from tapes found at a garage sale.” Harvey contributes several parts on the record. Here is what she has to say about the experience:
From the moment I heard Doom And The Dooms on the radio as a child, their music resonated with me. It sparked a melancholy longing in their songs—sadness interwoven with joy—and I’ve been striving to capture that feeling in my own work ever since.
Listen to the album below.
First Light At Hand arrives on 3/5 via Still Light. Doom And The Dooms is out now on PLATOON Ltd.
