Before The Poison

Description

Before the Poison is an album concerned with the self, the two sides of love, friendship, and redemption, not desolation or despair. That said, there's a good deal of human shadow in these ten songs. PJ Harvey wrote three songs here, co-wrote two with Faithfull, and appears on all of them. Nick Cave co-wrote three with the singer, and the Bad Seeds accompany her on these tracks. She also co-wrote one track with Damon Albarn and composer Jon Brion. Aside from Harvey and Cave, Rob Ellis and Hal Willner also contributed to the production. Thus, Before the Poison, like its predecessor, Kissin' Time, is an album of collaborations. But unlike the latter, this one is seamless; its songs are impeccably sequenced and all feel part of a whole tied together by emotional themes. Before the Poison is a poetic and unsettling album; it stands out in her catalog in the same way that Broken English did, but this time, from the other side of the looking glass.