Uh Huh Her
Studio album by
PJ Harvey
Released31 May 2004
Recorded2002–2003
Genre
Length40:41
LabelIsland
ProducerPJ Harvey
PJ Harvey chronology
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
(2000)		 Uh Huh Her
(2004)		 The Peel Sessions 1991–2004
(2006)
Singles from Uh Huh Her
  1. "The Letter"
    Released: 17 May 2004
  2. "You Come Through"
    Released: 19 July 2004
  3. "Shame"
    Released: 20 September 2004

Uh Huh Her is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. The album was written, recorded and produced over a two-year period by the singer-songwriter herself. She also played every instrument on the album (the first such project since 4-Track Demos in 1993) with the exception of the final drum tracks, added by long-time collaborator Rob Ellis. It was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom, and 8 June 2004 in the United States.

During the accompanying tour that lasted eight months,[5] she performed the album's unreleased title-track. Uh Huh Her debuted and peaked at number 12 in the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI.[6] It became Harvey's highest charting album to date in the U.S., peaking at number 29 in the Billboard 200, and had sold more than 135,000 copies there as of 2005, according to AskBillboard.[7] Although it charted higher than Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea in many territories, Uh Huh Her failed to achieve its predecessor's chart longevity and crossover interest.

The album received largely positive reviews upon its release, although there was some criticism of its production. It currently holds a 79 out of 100 metascore at Metacritic based upon 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Uh Huh Her also earned PJ Harvey nominations to awards such as the Grammy Awards[8] and the Brit Awards.

History

The album was written and recorded over a two-year period in Dorset, East Devon and Los Angeles. Much of the recording was done alone by Harvey using her four-track and eight-track home studio, guitar, keyboards and drum machine. For the first time since 1993's 4-Track Demos album, she produced it herself and played every instrument bar the final drum tracks, which were handled by her longtime collaborator Rob Ellis. Final recording and mixing was done by Head at the Presshouse Studio in rural East Devon in autumn/winter 2003.[9]

Harvey told Mojo magazine, "I don't think 'tender' is a word that could be applied to anything I've written before, but that's how I feel about this album and I'm really pleased about it. Some of the songs are very gentle, very loving; with others I had a lot of fun in the words I used and the way I sang them." She explained to Time Out magazine how she "wanted to get back to the earthy, rootsy, more dirty side of things" following the popular success of her last album, 2000's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. She said, "I wanted this record to be simple, I wanted it to be ugly in some places, I wanted it to have a swagger to it... but also a real honesty and intimacy. I wanted a warmness and closeness and I wanted to make a welcoming record." To Spin magazine she said that, in contrast to the extreme darkness of some of her earlier LPs, "I find an enormous amount of openness and hope on this record... "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" or "You Come Through" I find incredibly optimistic and tender." Harvey also explained to Tracks magazine that, "I was looking for distressed, debased sounds. So all of the guitars are either tuned so low that it's hard to detect what notes they're playing or they're baritone guitars or they're played through the shittiest amps I could find."

On the inside sleeve of the album cover are a long set of self-portrait photographs that Harvey took over the years, and a series of scribbled annotations she collected during the songwriting process of Uh Huh Her – notes to herself such as "Scare yourself", "Too normal? Too PJ H?" and "All that matters is my voice and my story" (a piece of advice given to her by her friend Elvis Costello). She admitted to Shaken Stir that producing the record on her own was "a completely draining, disorientating, exasperating, invigorating experience" and "one of the hardest pieces of work I've ever done... I couldn't say that this record was an enjoyable experience. I think it was a journey that I learnt an enormous amount from, but certainly there were very enjoyable moments... I mean when I look back on it now it was a very difficult, hard and taxing time, and yet I'm so glad I did it – so glad."

Harvey underwent an eight month world tour[5] in support of the album with drummer Rob Ellis and two new bandmates, bass player Dingo and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. The tour was captured for the DVD On Tour: Please Leave Quietly.

A song called "Uh Huh Her" was regularly played during the tour, but not included on the album. It was eventually recorded for the digital compilation iTunes Originals – PJ Harvey. On the origin of album's title PJ Harvey mentioned it in Rolling Stone in 2004: "But it came from the chorus of a song, actually — there’s a song called “Uh Huh Her” that I play live but I chose never to record. The chorus is: “Don’t marry uh huh her/Don’t marry her her her.”"[10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Entertainment WeeklyA[13]
The Guardian[1]
The Independent[14]
Los Angeles Times[15]
NME5/10[16]
Pitchfork7.6/10[17]
Q[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
SpinB+[20]

Uh Huh Her was released in May 2004 in the UK and peaked at #12 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was preceded by lead single "The Letter", which reached #28 in the UK Singles Chart. Uh Huh Her became PJ Harvey's highest-charting record on the US Billboard charts, reaching #29. Overall, however, it did not spark the same level of crossover interest as its million-selling predecessor Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. As usual with Harvey, the critical reception was generally strong: Alternative Press described the record as "profoundly moving", Entertainment Weekly called it "raw, dark and beautiful... a jagged, edgy winner", and Time noted that "No singer since Janis Joplin has moved as easily between primal scream and intimate sigh". The Sunday Times hailed it as "a thrilling, bone-rattling barrage, interleaved with moments of hushed, accordion-flecked intimacy whose closeness and apparent candour make you want to shield yourself from their passion." Hot Press magazine, meanwhile, felt it was "an extremely potent record... that contains more perspectives, characters and camera angles than maybe any PJ album to date". It won Harvey her sixth BRIT Award nomination, as Best British Female Artist, and her fifth Grammy Award nomination, for Best Alternative Music Performance of 2004.[8]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Spin Top 40 Best Albums of the 2004[21] 2004 31

Track listing

All tracks are written by PJ Harvey

Uh Huh Her – Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth"4:51
2."Shame"2:32
3."Who the Fuck?"2:09
4."Pocket Knife"3:41
5."The Letter"3:19
6."The Slow Drug"3:22
7."No Child of Mine"1:05
8."Cat on the Wall"3:00
9."You Come Through"2:46
10."It's You"4:12
11."The End"1:21
12."The Desperate Kingdom of Love"2:42
13."Seagulls"1:08
14."The Darker Days of Me & Him"4:35
Total length:40:41[12]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Uh Huh Her's liner notes.[22]

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Silver 60,000^
United States — 135,000[7]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (28 May 2004). "PJ Harvey, Uh Huh Her". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Empire, Kitty (30 May 2004). "PJ Harvey, Uh Huh Her". The Observer. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Lovitt, Bryn (18 December 2015). "The Noisey Editors' Best And Worst Of 2015: Bryn Lovitt". Noisey. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (23 June 2004). "PJ Harvey: Uh Huh Her". PopMatters. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 Petrusich, Amanda (5 November 2007). "PJ Harvey". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. 1 2 "Ask Billboard". Billboard. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Artist: PJ Harvey". Grammy. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Uh Huh Her". PJHarvey.net. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Orloff, Brian (5 October 2004). "PJ Harvey Talks Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Reviews for Uh Huh Her by PJ Harvey". Metacritic. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Uh Huh Her – PJ Harvey". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Browne, David (11 June 2004). "Uh Huh Her". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Price, Simon (30 May 2004). "PJ Harvey: Uh Huh Her (Island)". The Independent.
  15. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (30 May 2004). "PJ Harvey, still rockin' and roiling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Smack, Eddie (21 June 2004). "PJ Harvey : Uh Huh Her". NME. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Dahlen, Chris (31 May 2004). "PJ Harvey: Uh Huh Her". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "PJ Harvey: Uh Huh Her". Q (215): 100. June 2004.
  19. ↑ Hoard, Christian (24 June 2004). "Uh Huh Her (U.S. Version)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Hermes, Will (June 2004). "Queen of Hearts". Spin. 20 (6): 101–02. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Music: Milk-Eyed Mender (CD) by Joanna Newsom (Artist)". Tower.com. 23 March 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  22. ↑ Uh Huh Her (Media notes). PJ Harvey. Island Records. 2004. 986 639-5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  24. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  25. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  26. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  27. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  28. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  29. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  30. 1 2 "Discography PJ Harvey". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  31. ↑ "Album – PJ Harvey, Uh Huh Her" (in German). Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  32. 1 2 "Discography PJ Harvey". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  33. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  34. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  35. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". portuguesecharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  36. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  37. ↑ "PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". Hitparade (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  38. 1 2 "PJ Harvey | Artist". The Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  39. 1 2 "Uh Huh Her – PJ Harvey: Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  40. ↑ "British album certifications – PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
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