"This Is Love" | ||||
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Single by PJ Harvey | ||||
from the album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea | ||||
Released | 2001 | |||
Genre | Punk blues [1] | |||
Length | 3:48 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Songwriter(s) | PJ Harvey | |||
Producer(s) | Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey, Sam Cunningham | |||
PJ Harvey singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"This Is Love" on YouTube |
"This Is Love" is a song by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. It is the tenth track from her fifth studio album, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) and was released as a single in 2001 under the title "This Is Love/You Said Something". It charted on UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 41. [2] The blues-influenced song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2002 but lost to Lucinda Williams song "Get Right With God". [3]
The song was described as "blues punk" [1] and "one of the blues-tinged numbers" off the record. [4] The guitar riff of the song was interpreted as an homage to The Stooges song "No Fun" and was compared to those of The Heartbreakers song "Chinese Rocks." [5] According to Amy Britton, the author of Revolution Rock: The Albums Which Defined Two Ages, lyrically the song "places sex as a priority over the anomalies of the world." [6] Also on the lyrics of the song, Jason Heller of The A.V. Club wrote: "PJ doesn’t bring her love to anyone, nor does she ponder whether her font of conflicted emotions and biological requirements amount to desire. She just states, “This is love / This is love / That I’m feeling.” Period. No searching of the soul needed." [5]
Andrew Mueller of Spin stated that the song "flirts with a hitherto uncharacteristic Liz Phair-ish playfullness" and described it as "exuberant". [7] Christian David Hoard, one of the authors of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide praised the song, writing: "on the bombastic and awesomely raunchy "This Is Love," arguably her best song ever, she says a big fuck-you to psychosis and sadness as guitars crunch and garments hit the floor." [8]
The music video for the song was directed by Sophie Muller, who also collaborated with Harvey on the music videos of "Good Fortune" and "A Place Called Home." [9] It features Harvey, who is wearing a fringe-sleeved white suit and red lipstick, performing the song on the guitar at a studio and whipping her hair around. [10]
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
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UK Singles Chart [2] | 41 |
Polly Jean Harvey is an English singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actress, poet and visual artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.
Dry is the debut studio album by the band PJ Harvey, fronted by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on Too Pure Records on 30 March 1992. The album was recorded at The Icehouse, a local studio in Yeovil, United Kingdom. The first 5000 LPs and first 1000 CDs included demo versions of the album's tracks and Dry was subsequently released in the United States on Indigo Records in the US. Both versions were released in 1992. Dry was reissued on vinyl and CD in July 2020: an 11-track companion album collecting all of the demos titled Dry - Demos was also released on vinyl as a stand-alone record.
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey, released on 23 October 2000 by Island Records. Recorded during March to April 2000, it contains themes of love that are tied into Harvey's affection for New York City.
Rid of Me is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey. It was released by Island Records in April 1993, approximately one year after the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Dry. It marked a departure from Harvey's previous songwriting, being more raw and aggressive than its predecessor.
4-Track Demos is an album of demos by British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. It was released in October 1993 by Island Records. It consists of eight demos of songs from her previous album, Rid of Me, along with six demos of some unreleased tracks which never made it to release with the three-piece PJ Harvey line-up. According to interviews with Harvey, all fourteen of these songs were written and demoed at her home between mid-1991 and autumn 1992. 4-Track Demos was Harvey's first entirely self-produced album; there would not be another such until 2004's Uh Huh Her.
To Bring You My Love is the third studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. It was released by Island Records in February 1995. Recorded after the break-up of the PJ Harvey trio, it stands as her first proper solo album. The songs on the album are heavily influenced by American blues music.
Uh Huh Her is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. The album was written, recorded and produced over a two-year period by the singer-songwriter herself. She also played every instrument on the album with the exception of the final drum tracks, added by long-time collaborator Rob Ellis. It was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom, and 8 June 2004 in the United States.
Dance Hall at Louse Point is the debut collaborative studio album by English alternative rock musicians PJ Harvey and John Parish, released on 23 September 1996 on Island Records. It was reissued on vinyl LP in October 2020.
Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller is a British music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 Diva video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song "Why" from the same album. In 1993, she received a BRIT Award for "Stay" by Shakespears Sister. She won another MTV Award in 1997 for "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Muller is a longtime collaborator of Sade, Annie Lennox, Gwen Stefani, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Garbage and Shakespears Sister.
Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.
"By Your Side" is a song by English band Sade from their fifth studio album, Lovers Rock (2000). Written by Sade Adu, and produced by her and Mike Pela, it was released as the album's lead single in the United States on 3 October 2000 and in the United Kingdom on 6 November 2000. The track was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2001. The music video for the single was directed by Sophie Muller. In 2002, the song was listed as the 48th greatest love song of all time by VH1.
The discography of PJ Harvey, an English alternative rock musician, consists of ten studio albums, two collaboration albums with John Parish, twenty-two singles, one extended play, three compilation albums and a number of collaborations with other artists.
Let England Shake is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 14 February 2011 by Island Records. Production began around the time of White Chalk's release in 2007, though it is a departure from the piano-driven introspection of that album. Let England Shake was written over a 2+1⁄2-year period, and recorded in five weeks at a church in Dorset during April and May 2010.
"The Words That Maketh Murder" is a song by English musician PJ Harvey. It is the fourth track and lead single from her eighth studio album, Let England Shake, and was released on 6 February 2011 on Island Records. Dealing with diplomacy, the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and world wars, "The Words That Maketh Murder" was produced by Flood, John Parish, Mick Harvey and PJ Harvey. It was Harvey's first single since 2008's "The Devil" and uses similar dynamics of song-writing to its predecessor, including folk influence and instrumentation.
Good Fortune is a song by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. It is the second track and lead single from her fifth studio album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, and was released on 13 November 2000 on Island Records. The song was written by Harvey and self-produced with Mick Harvey and Rob Ellis.
"Down by the Water" is a song by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. It is the seventh track and the lead single from her third studio album, To Bring You My Love, released in February 1995 on Island Records. The song was written by Harvey, and self-produced with Flood and John Parish.
"C'mon Billy" is a song by English musician PJ Harvey, released as the second single from her third studio album, To Bring You My Love (1995). Produced, engineered, and mixed by Flood with Harvey as co-producer and engineer, it features the artist on vocals and guitar, John Parish on drums and percussion, Joe Gore on guitar, Sonia Slany on violin, Jocelyn Pook and Jules Singleton on viola, and Sian Bell on cello. The string arrangement is by Pete Thomas. The song is cited as being a clear example of Harvey's sound change since breaking from the PJ Harvey Trio.
The Hope Six Demolition Project is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 15 April 2016 on Island Records. The album is Harvey's first since her acclaimed Mercury Prize-winning album Let England Shake, released in 2011.