Three years have passed since the last recording movement of PJ Harvey. That’s why it’s a pleasure to have her back among us, opening a new musical line with “Voyager.”
The British PJ Harvey never ceases to surprise us. When we expect his material from a certain musical line, he surprises us by taking unexpected paths. And that’s exactly what happens with “Voyager,” an almost ambient piece that points to where the artist’s next steps could be headed.
Three years have passed since it saw the light “I Inside the Old Year Dying” (23), although in 2024 Harvey dedicated himself to providing the soundtrack for the Apple TV series “Bad Sisters” already create the soundtrack of the play “London Tide”. In other words, he hasn’t really taken much time off.
“Voyager” is a piece that was born from the request of physicist Brian Cox, who requested a song as the musical basis of his tour of his informative show. “Emergence”. Thus, it is a composition born with a clear intention and that, at the same time, serves as a preview of what we are going to find in the artist’s next full-length.
Taking its name from the ship that NASA launched into space in 1977, “Voyager” has been written by PJ Harvey herself, who is in charge of synthesizers, voices and percussion, with orchestral arrangements by The Miraval Orchestra, conducted by Dario Marianelli, and the participation of Brian Cox himself in charge of some synthesizers.
The song also pays tribute to Carl Sagan through a reference to his “pale blue dot” concept (which would be what our planet looks like from outer space), which is part of the song’s lyrics.
