Polly Harvey wants a cracker

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

When she played at the Big Day Out in 2001, PJ Harvey wasn't just one of the most musically riveting things on the bill, she was a beacon of glamour in a day of black T-shirts, fresh tattoos and goatees.

"That's nice to know. I like to make an effort," she chuckles at the observation down the line from her home in Dorset. "I thoroughly enjoy dressing up and enjoy the whole presentation on stage. So that was the plan."

The English singer-songwriter, who takes PJ as her musical trademark from her Christian names Polly Jean, is also a rarity at this year's event: a genuine female left-field rock star.

Since releasing her debut album Dry 10 years ago, the now 32-year-old has established herself somewhere interesting - a place above cult appeal and somewhere below wider acceptance.

Her last album, 2000's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea almost managed something its predecessors hadn't: it was the PJ Harvey album you didn't have to like PJ Harvey to like, with its relatively accessible melodies and production. It also won her the Mercury Prize in Britain - pop's equivalent to the Booker - but the award coincided with September 11 which meant any satisfaction at the honour was lost in the turmoil.

She and the band were on tour in the US and saw the devastation at the Pentagon. And with many of the Stories from the City ... tracks inspired by and making reference to New York, where many of them were written, the songs took on a different slant.

"Overnight those songs seemed to take on completely different meanings. But not always doom-laden ones. Some songs become much more hopeful and the hope in the songs became much more important somehow."

Her Auckland Big Day Out date came early in the touring for that album.

"As far as Auckland went, we were just trying to get through without being too intimidated and trying to hit the marks and be at the right place at the right time. It was mind-blowing, just the scale of the shows and the warmth of the people and the beauty of being there."

This time, it's even earlier in the cycle - she's written the new album but hasn't recorded it yet.

"So this thing is a natural good break. I am just so missing playing live. I haven't played live since this time last year and I just miss it so much. I really need to do some shows just to feel all right again and the invite to come over was all I needed because I had such a great time the last time."

Then it will be into the studio to create an album "where every single song is a really great song".

"I just think that so often - myself included - albums come out and there might be two jaw-dropping songs on there and eight that are just good and I thought, now what if I can get 10 jaw-dropping ones on one album? So that is why it's taking a long, long time.

Harvey says by her own exacting standards, there were only two jaw-droppers on Stories from the City ... even if some might beg to differ. But her philosophy towards having an album that would fit happily on a vinyl LP is part of Harvey having one foot in the past. Blame her rock-aficionado parents who took to her to the Glastonbury festival from the age of 9 and exposed her to a lot of music from before her time. Hence the often pronounced blues influence in her sound.

"I don't think I'll ever get away from the blues. I was brought up on it and I think some of it ends up in your blood. I'm a kind of blues singer really and that vein runs through whenever I open my mouth and I can't help it. So a lot of the new songs have that flavour and I wouldn't want to change that."

There might be another discernible influence in Harvey's approach. She's been having flamenco lessons. Going well, are they?

"Good thanks. It's something that I love. It makes me feel warmer in cold winter months."

Must tempt you to throw the nylon strings on the guitar and go crazy huh?

"It does a little bit of that I'm afraid but mostly it makes me want to clap and stamp."

So no doubt we'll be seeing the results on stage next week?

"Yes, you will."

* PJ Harvey plays the blue stage (main stadium at 7.15pm).

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