White Chalk

White Chalk
Studio album by PJ Harvey
Released	24 September 2007 (2007-09-24)
Recorded	November 2006 – March 2007
Genre	Chamber folk
Length	33:57
Label	Island
Producer	Flood John Parish PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey chronology
The Peel Sessions 1991–2004 (2006) White Chalk (2007) A Woman a Man Walked By (2009)
Singles from White Chalk
"When Under Ether" Released: 17 September 2007 "The Piano" Released: 3 December 2007 "The Devil" Released: 18 March 2008

White Chalk is the seventh studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 24 September 2007 on Island Records.

Work on the album started in 2006, with producer Flood and John Parish, who also worked on her To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? albums. Other collaborators on White Chalk are Eric Drew Feldman and Jim White from Dirty Three.

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 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". For this album she gave up the traditional three-piece guitar/bass/drums sound 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."

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". Lyrically, Harvey continued with the dark, moody themes typical of much of her music.

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".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	A−
Entertainment Weekly	C
The Guardian
Mojo
NME	7/10
Pitchfork	6.8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	Half star

White Chalk received critical acclaim and has a score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic. 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." The Observer gave the album 5 stars out of 5, while Robert Christgau picked out one song from the album, "When Under Ether", as a "choice cut" ((choice cut)).

In December 2007, American webzine Somewhere Cold voted White Chalk CD of the Year on their 2007 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame.

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
NME	2007 Albums of the Year	2007	13
Stylus Magazine	Top 50 Albums of 2007	2007	50
PopMatters	The Best Albums of 2007	2007	47
The Wire	50 Records of the Year	2007	45

Formats

The US release is available on CD and 33+1⁄3 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".

Track listing

All tracks are written by PJ Harvey.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Devil"	2:55
2.	"Dear Darkness"	3:09
3.	"Grow Grow Grow"	3:21
4.	"When Under Ether"	2:22
5.	"White Chalk"	3:06
6.	"Broken Harp"	1:57
7.	"Silence"	3:05
8.	"To Talk to You"	4:00
9.	"The Piano"	2:36
10.	"Before Departure"	3:45
11.	"The Mountain"	3:10
Total length:		33:57

iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Wait"	2:17
Total length:		36:14

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Musicians

• PJ Harvey – vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, zither, harmonica, harp, cigfiddle
• John Parish – drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, percussion, backing vocals
• Eric Drew Feldman – piano, keyboards, optigan, mellotron, minimoog, backing vocals
• Jim White – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Nico Brown – concertina, backing vocals (on "Before Departure")
• Andrew Dickson – backing vocals (on "Before Departure")
• Bridget Pearse – backing vocals (on "Before Departure")
• Martin Brunsden – backing vocals (on "Before Departure")
• Nick Bicât – backing vocals (on "Before Departure")

Technical

• Flood – producer, engineer, mixing
• John Parish – producer, mixing
• PJ Harvey – producer, mixing, additional engineer
• Catherine Marks – assistant engineer
• Andrew Savors – assistant engineer
• Ali Chant – additional engineer

Design

• Maria Mochnacz – artwork, photography
• Rob Crane – artwork

Chart positions

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	24
Austrian Top 40	66
Belgian Albums Chart (Vl)	12
Belgian Albums Chart (Wa)	33
Danish Albums Chart	18
Dutch Top 100	34
Finnish Albums Chart	32
French SNEP Albums Chart	10
German Albums Chart	54
Irish Albums Chart	15
Italian FIMI Albums Chart	66
New Zealand RIANZ Top 40	35
Norwegian Albums Chart	7
Portuguese Albums Chart	20
Spanish Albums Chart	55
Swedish Albums Chart	24
Swiss Hitparade Albums Chart	21
UK Albums Chart	11
US Billboard 200	65
US Billboard Alternative Albums	14
US Billboard Tastemaker Albums	3

Singles

Year	Single	Peak position
		UK
2007	"When Under Ether"	101

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	60,000^
United States	—	62,000
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

External links

• Free album sampler at PJHarvey.net
• White Chalk at Musicbrainz
• White Chalk at Metacritic