The first single released from White Chalk was "When Under Ether" on 17 September 2007 on digital download and 7" vinyl. A second single, "The Piano," was released on 26 November 2007. A third, "The Devil," was released on 7", download, and CD formats in March 2008.
Style
The previous album, Uh Huh Her, had a raw sound[3] but for this record White Chalk, Rolling Stone's magazine noted that Harvey "delved further into a Goth-like vibe in the much quieter, haunting, piano-based music".[3] For this album she gave up the traditional three-piece sound guitar/bass/drums and recorded a set of songs for piano, despite her lack of expertise on the instrument. In an interview in The Wire she explained, "the great thing about learning a new instrument from scratch is that it [...] liberates your imagination."[4]
Vocally, she sang in a much higher register than usual, at a pitch outside her normal range, and "howled about being possessed by demon lovers and ghosts".[5] Lyrically, Harvey continued with the dark, moody themes typical of much of her music.[4]
Harvey elaborated the meaning behind the album's title: "I just like the sound of the words white chalk. It can be millions of years old but erased in a second, and somehow has a timeless quality... The timelessness became more the source of inspiration".[6]
White Chalk received critical acclaim and has a score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic.[7]Uncut hailed the album in glowing terms, calling it "an album of lonely beauty and piercing sorrow" before concluding, "White Chalk is P.J. Harvey back at the peak of her considerable powers."[17]The Observer gave the album 5 stars out of 5,[18] while Robert Christgau picked out one song from the album, "When Under Ether", as a "choice cut" ().[19]
In December 2007, American webzineSomewhere Cold voted White Chalk CD of the Year on their 2007 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame.[20]
The US release is available on CD and 33⅓ rpm LP. The UK release is available on CD and 45 rpm vinyl record. White Chalk is also available on iTunes complete with a bonus track, "Wait".
^ abKem, Marc. "PJ Harvey Rolling Stone'Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 August 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2012. Harvey returned to a rawer, darker sound on Uh Huh Her (Number 29, 2004) and delved further into a Goth-like vibe in the much quieter, haunting, piano-based music of 2007's White Chalk.
^ abStubbs, D. (September 2007). "Return of the Native". The Wire. 283: 34.
