PJ Harvey's 4-Track Demos: a story of raw emotions
Channel: Simon Mas
Date: 06/01/2023

4-Track Demos reflects the raw emotions of a hard time in PJ Harvey's life. A breakup, a nervous breakdown, and the desire to shock were channelled into the music. Is it any good? What's the story behind the songs? Let's find this out in this episode of If Music Could Talk!


***CHAPTERS***
00:00 Introduction
00:50 1993
03:56 A difficult success
08:02 The music
12:46 Aftermath
14:29 Suggestions


#pjharvey #frustration #storytime


***SOURCES***
"4-Track Demos": https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/4-track-demos-247172/

"4-Track Demos Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine": https://www.allmusic.com/album/4-track-demos-mw0000102861

"'4-Track Demos' Turns 25 | Anniversary Retrospective": https://albumism.com/features/pj-harvey-4-track-demos-turns-25-anniversary-retrospective

"A Guide To PJ Harvey": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtMXNB1O00I

"A Minimalist Effort from Rocker PJ Harvey": https://www.npr.org/2004/10/16/4112178/a-minimalist-effort-from-rocker-pj-harvey

"Fans Await Sophomore Disc By PJ Harvey", by Thom Duffy, from Billboard, 6 March 1993 issue

PJ Harvey Official Website: https://pjharvey.net/

"PJ Harvey on MTV’s 120 Minutes 1993": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uftQG15x6ss

"PJ Harvey – 4-Track Demos – Classic Music Review": https://altrockchick.com/2018/07/12/pj-harvey-4-track-demos-classic-music-review/

"PJ Harvey: Dry/Dry – Demos/Rid of Me/4-Track Demos": https://spectrumculture.com/2020/09/03/pj-harvey-dry-dry-demos-rid-of-me-4-track-demos-review/

"PJ Harvey's Guide to Songwriting": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTqYq55s2M0

"Reeling With PJ Harvey", VHS from Vision Video Ltd, 1994

"The Violent Desire of PJ Harvey's 'Rid Of Me' | New British Canon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQlDk2JK7Mg

Wikipedia, 4-Track Demos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-Track_Demos

Wikipedia, Dry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_(album)

Wikipedia, PJ Harvey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PJ_Harvey

Wikipedia, Rid Of Me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rid_of_Me


This is a video about the story of how 4-Track Demos by PJ Harvey came to be released. It talks about the history behind the album, about a dark period of the singer songwriter's life. The video offers you a perspective about PJ Harvey's work, a brief review of 4-Track Demos, some listening suggestions for those liking the album, and a personal story of how Simon Mas came in touch with the album.

If you're reading this far and you want me to recognise you as one of the few hardcore music fans on youtube, just type "it's 10.15 on a saturday night" in a comment ;)