The double Mercury Prize winner will play two dates in each city on her journey. Commencing at 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin on the 22^nd September, Polly Jean will perform at Barrowland in Glasgow, The Roundhouse in London, and The Albert Hall in Manchester on her tour. She will then travel to Europe playing in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Zurich, Prague, Berlin, Warsaw, Copenhagen, and close the tour in Oslo on Halloween.

The alternative chamber folk singer-songwriter unveiled her plans for the tour to her community mailing list this morning (7^th June) prior to social media.

A limited number of presale tickets will be available Wednesday 14^th June 10 am BST to those who pre-order Harvey’s new album I Inside The Old Year Dying from the official store which you can access here. For members of the mailing list community tickets will be on presale at Thursday 15^th June from 10 am BST. Sign up to PJ’s mailing list here. General sale will begin on Friday 16^th June. See here for tickets.

Alongside this announcement came the haunting title track from PJ’s upcoming album. The single is accompanied by a music video directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña. Watch the video below:

“This delicate and beautiful song eluded us until the very last day in the studio,” Harvey revealed in a press release. “Over the previous five weeks we had tried so many times to capture it and failed, but then John reinvented the feel of the guitar pattern. As he was demonstrating it in the control room, Flood handed me a microphone and pressed record whilst I sat next to John trying to work out how to sing to it. The result somehow captures the ethereal and melancholic longing I was looking for.”

Back in April, PJ Harvey ended her musical hiatus by sharing the ethereal and hypnotic single “A Child’s Question, August” as well as announcing the news of her 10^th studio album. Watch the video for the track directed by Steve Gullick below:

 I Inside the Old Year Dying will be released on 7^th July via Partisan Records. The record is the follow up to 2016’s The Hope Six Demolition Project and was produced and mixed by her long-time collaborators John Parrish and Flood. On Instagram, PJ wrote, “After many years of work I am very happy to release this collection of new songs. It was a difficult album to make and took time to find its strongest form, but it has finally become all I hoped for it to be.”

See the track list for I Inside the Old Year Dying below:

1.  Prayer at the Gate
2. Autumn Term
3. Lwonesome Tonight
4. Seem an I
5. The Nether-edge
6. I Inside the Old Year Dying
7. All Souls
8. A Child’s Question, August
9. I Inside the Old I Dying
10. August
11. A Child’s Question, July
12. A Noiseless Noise

Over the last three years, Polly Jean has shared previously unheard demos for all her studio albums.

See below for all of PJ Harvey’s upcoming UK and Europe tour dates:

22/09/23 – 3Olympia Theatre – Dublin
23/09– 3Olympia Theatre – Dublin
25/09 – Barrowland – Glasgow
26/09 – Barrowland – Glasgow
28/09 – Roundhouse – London
29/09 – Roundhouse – London
02/10 – Albert Hall – Manchester
03/10 – Albert Hall – Manchester
06/10 – Paradiso – Amsterdam
07/10 – Paradiso – Amsterdam
09/10 – Cirque Royal – Brussels
10/10 – Cirque Royal – Brussels
12/10 – Olympia – Paris
13/10 – Olympia – Paris
15/10 – Volkshaus – Zurich
16/10 – Volkshaus – Zurich
18/10 – Velký sál Lucerna – Prague
19/10 – Velký sál Lucerna – Prague
21/10 – Admiralspalast – Berlin
22/10 – Admiralspalast – Berlin
24/10 – Palladium – Warsaw
25/10 – Palladium – Warsaw
27/10 – Falkonersalen – Copenhagen
28/10 – Falkonersalen – Copenhagen
30/10 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo
31/10 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo

The album sees EELS collaborating once again with English producer and guitarist John Parish, who originally worked with the group on their 2001 album Souljacker, a record defined by fuzzed out tones and bluesy riffs. From the release of the very first single from this new album, Parish’s presence and influence is absolutely felt, as we see a reintroduction of the heavy blues influence present on Souljacker. Parish has previously worked with Tracy Chapman, PJ Harvey and Aldous Harding.

EELS’ Mark Oliver Everett (aka E) said of Parrish in a press release: “John Parish is one of the most even-tempered, polite people I’ve ever met. A true gentleman. Actually, he’s probably THE most polite person I’ve ever met. But when he gets into the studio he becomes a mad scientist. If you make music with John Parish, you get stuff no one else does. He has a really unique toolbox and musical outlook. Perhaps his politeness is a coping mechanism to keep Mr. Hyde under control when he’s out of his laboratory.”

Whilst Parrish’s rock ‘n’ roll influence is definitely an ever-present force on the album, the group dials it back on certain tunes, such as the sombre, crawling tune “So Anyway”, which harkens back to the mood and feel of songs from early EELS records such as Electro Shock Blues and Beautiful Freak.

The track list for Extreme Witchcraft can be viewed below.

1). Amateur Hour
2). Good Night On Earth
3). Strawberries And Popcorn
4). Steam Engine
5). Grandfather Clock Strikes Twelve
6). Stumbling Bee
7). The Magic
8). Better Living Through Desperation
9). So Anyway
10). What It Isn’t
11). Learning While I Lose
12). I Know You’re Right

EELS will be embarking on a North American and UK/EU tour in Spring of this year. The UK leg of their tour will commence in Belfast, Ireland on the 11^th of March. You can purchase tickets here, and the band’s UK dates can be viewed below.

11/03/2022- Telegraph Building- Belfast
12/03- Olympia Theatre- Dublin
14/03- Roundhouse- London
15/03- Albert Hall- Manchester
16/03- Barrowland- Glasgow
17/03- Rock City- Nottingham
18/03- O2 Guildhall- Southampton