PJ Harvey

"The Hope Six Demolition Project"

Rating: 4-1/2

Polly Jean Harvey was a fascinating figure in the 1990s, a music provocateur who sometimes teetered at an almost-dangerous level of ferocity and torment during her largely introspective slash-and-burn march through alt-rock, post-punk and aggro-folk-blues.

She mellowed somewhat at the turn of the century, balancing her lyrics with more upbeat themes as she merged her sound into a more conventional indie aesthetic … albeit always with at least a bit of a edge.

But it's interesting to reminisce about that wild Harvey of the 1990s while listening to her new "The Hope Six Demolition Project," her first release since 2011's "Let England Shake." The fire still burns in Harvey, now 46, only these days her passion has a worldly perspective. The album took shape over years of Harvey's travels with photographer/videographer Seamus Murphy as the two went to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. Hence one song pivots around a fairground wheel in war-torn Kosovo ("The Wheel") while another tackles the plight of Native Americans ("Medicinals," inspired by a visit to the National Mall in D.C.)

With "Let England Shake" producers Flood and John Parish at the helm, Harvey recorded "The Hope Six Demolition Project" at London's Somerset House behind glass, but in public view. Her robust sound is layered with experimentation, often punctuated by brassy horns and stirred with heavy beats, though her knack for melody is sharp as ever.

The breezy rock of opener "The Community of Hope" carries with it an air of sadness as Harvey takes aim at America's HOPE VI project, created to revitalize public housing projects, though in Harvey's view, it has failed: "They're gonna put a Walmart here" she repeats forlornly. Elsewhere, she delivers sweetly elegant vocals for the chunky rhythm and ominous lyrics of "A Line in the Sand," tribal beat for the humming "River Anacostia" and military drums to offset the melodious anthem of "Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln." Meanwhile, the organ drone of closer "Dollar, Dollar" gives a liturgical feel to the sparse atmosphere as Harvey focuses on the most desperate victims of desperate times.

For all the changes Harvey has gone through over the years, she has never lost her ability to creatively command attention.