In an Instagram update shared on New Year’s Eve, Harvey wrote that she has “been writing songs for my next album and poems for my next book,” describing the creative work as a process that continues to “surprise and challenge” her but one she remains “committed to and love[s]”. No title, release date or label details have yet been announced for either project, but the confirmation signals that a follow‑up to ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ is now formally in motion.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PJ Harvey (@pjharveyofficial)

The post also looked back on the conclusion of her most recent live run, noting that “2025 saw the end of the ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ tour in Australia and Japan in March,” which she called “a wonderful experience” and a chance to bring the record to life “in a shared experience”. The album, released in 2023, was widely praised as an immersive, folklore‑infused return that drew on her Dorset‑set narrative poem Orlam.

Alongside the news of fresh writing, Harvey shared a curated playlist of tracks she credits with being “inspiring and strengthening” throughout 2025. Hosted on streaming services under her official account, the playlist runs just over an hour and gathers work from contemporary composers, experimental artists and idiosyncratic songwriters.

The selections include pieces such as “LAD: II. The Slow Melody” and “Wee Rosebud”, alongside modern classical and avant‑garde cuts by artists including Clarissa Connelly, Xenia Pestova Bennett and the Ligeti Quartet. The list underlines Harvey’s long‑standing openness to left‑field influences, echoing the spectral folk, choral textures and text‑driven structures that shaped I Inside the Old Year Dying and its companion book Orlam.

Harvey closed her message by thanking listeners for their support and wishing them “a happy and peaceful year ahead”, framing the new creative cycle as both a continuation and a renewal after two years of touring. With no firm timeline yet in place, fans are left to parse the hints offered by her evolving reading list, visual collaborators and,  now, this playlist of guiding songs.

If the hard-hitting music she has been publicly championing is any indication, Harvey’s next chapter is likely to push further into atmospheric, narrative‑rich territory, drawing strength from the adventurous voices she has chosen to spotlight.

The Car is shortlisted for the 2023 @MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/nBoCgwAed1

— Arctic Monkeys (@ArcticMonkeys) July 27, 2023

While Radiohead, arguably one of the UK’s biggest and most popular acts in recent decades, has never won the prestigious award, Arctic Monkeys have taken the prize home on one occasion so far-winning for their debut effort Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in 2006. Although The Car has seen the band drift further away from their indie rock roots, the album has nevertheless earned the group plenty of plaudits from critics.

Primarily written by frontman Alex Turner, the album features an eclectic mix of genres that has already seen the work nominated for several awards, including a Grammy and Ivor Novello Award. Fears of a fan backlash were largely unfounded as The Car reached the top ten UK album charts, debuting at number 2. And the group can now add a Mercury Prize nomination to the album’s already impressive run of industry nods.

Arctic Monkeys have supported the album’s release with a global tour which included a successful run of stadium performances in the UK and Ireland and a headlining slot at this summer’s Glastonbury Festival. Set to wrap in October this year, the tour has been notable for featuring lesser known songs in the setlist, giving a broader range of material the chance to thrive in a live setting.

Founded as an alternative to the Brit Awards, The Mercury Prize has become one of Britain’s most cherished music achievement honours. Open to any band containing at least 50% British or Irish membership, the prize seeks to reward the best studio album released in the United Kingdom. The award is bestowed purely upon musical merit, regardless of how successful or popular the artist was in the previous year.

In the award’s 31 year history, PJ Harvey holds the record for being the only artist to have won the award on more than one occasion, having taken home the prize twice in 2001 and 2011 respectively. Arctic Monkeys will be hoping to become only the second artist to accomplish this feat with The Car.

Introducing the artists on the Shortlist for the 2023 Mercury Prize with @FreeNow_UK! @ArcticMonkeys@EzraCollective@fredagainagain1@jhus@JessieWare@jockstrapmusic1@LankumDublin@LoyleCarner@oliviadeano@raye@0800shygirl@Youngfathers#MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/tw8UQzp5Zx

— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 27, 2023

While open to all genres, the prize has been noted by some critics for the absence of bands within the metal subgenre, although rock groups are included in this year’s shortlist.

This year’s ceremony judges will consist of music journalists, presenters, artists and broadcasters and will be held at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London on 7 September. The event will be shown live across the BBC’s TV and radio stations.

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

PJ Harvey’s new song ‘A Child’s Question, August’ is out this Wednesday April 26th. Pre-save here https://t.co/Tx8mfeO3nT

Here’s a clip from the accompanying music video directed by #SteveGullick. pic.twitter.com/zym1cZgDuH

— PJ Harvey (@PJHarveyUK) April 24, 2023

Yesterday, Polly Jean Harvey shared the title and release date of the single online. Fans’ speculations over the possibility of new imminent PJ music were confirmed when the singer shared clips on the 19^th April of herself and longtime collaborators John Parish and Flood in the studio.

A new playlist is now available on Spotify, featuring tracks co-produced alongside @JohnParish50 and Flood: https://t.co/TUAnzOjwWk

New studio clip filmed, directed and edited by #SteveGullick. pic.twitter.com/EWIHnTpzfA

— PJ Harvey (@PJHarveyUK) April 19, 2023

In celebration of the new material, the artist has also shared that she has made a new playlist available on Spotify featuring tracks from her back catalog produced by Parish and Flood. Listen below:

Prolific English photographer Steve Gullick (who has photographed Harvey as well as Elliott Smith, Kurt Cobain, Mark E Smith, Björk, Nick Cave, and Lou Reed, to name a handful of musical icons) directed the music video for “A Child’s Question, August”, which will accompany the single.

A year ago, PJ let slip to the Observer in her first interview in ten years that her 10^th studio solo album was indeed on its way. “I’m really pleased with it,” she said, “and I’m my own harshest critic”. She also confirmed in her Rolling Stone interview last year we could expect it this summer. Now it seems that the wait for the LP is nearly over.

Harvey’s been busy since her last studio album, 2016’s The Hope Six Demolition Project, was released seven years ago.  Her first full-length narrative poem, Orlam, which took six years to write, was published last year. A coming-of-age story written in the Dorset dialect, it was applauded for its blending of light and dark and visceral nature imagery. She’s also worked on two soundtracks: one instrumental for the 2019 stage adaptation of All About Eve featuring Gillian Anderson and Lily James and another for the 2022 Irish TV series Bad Sisters alongside Tim Phillips.

Over the last three years, the artist has also shared previously unheard demos for all her studio albums. Talking to Rolling Stone about her decision to release the demos she said, “I think because a lot of time had passed since making those demos and now, it felt like a nice thing to do. To let people in, to see a little more of the process, how the songs first start”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercury Prize (@mercuryprize)

The Mercury Prize Award ceremony and competition take place each year to celebrate British and Irish music. Each year, 12 albums are shortlisted to contend for the accolade; these albums are chosen from a range of genres and incorporate new and established artists. The list is then presented to a panel of judges consisting of industry professionals who proceed with the lengthy decision process. On the day of the ceremony the panel then meets again to choose the album of the year, and the winner is awarded the Mercury Music Prize which consists of a cash prize and a trophy. Most importantly, the winning artist receives the awareness, visibility, commercial success and professional respect which follow the confirmed win. 

The following statement further describes the prize’s importance within popular music, “It is the music equivalent to the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art. The main objectives of the Prize are to recognise and celebrate artistic achievement, provide a snapshot of the year in music and to help introduce new albums from a range of music genres to a wider audience.”

This year’s shortlisted twelve ‘Albums Of The Year’ will be confirmed on Thursday 28th July 2022, and updates concerning this year’s nominees can be found on social media channels. Music fans can also stay informed using the Mercury Prize’s new headline sponsor, FREE NOW, Europe’s leading Mobility Super App. The event’s existing partner Bowers & Wilkins will continue to act as the Mercury Prize’s official audio partner.

The Mercury Music Prize has been a signal of achievement and talent since its inception 30 years ago. The accolade and event were created in association with the British Phonographic Industry. The first event took place in 1992 and was originally produced to contend with the Brit Awards, the first Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Primal Scream for their third studio album Screamadelica.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercury Prize (@mercuryprize)

Throughout the award’s long and storied history, the prize has been awarded to 29 different albums but only one artist has won twice. English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey famously won the Mercury Prize in 2001 for Stories From the City and again in 2011 for her eighth studio album Let England Shake. Many debut albums have been awarded the prize including An Awesome Wave by Alt-J and Psychodrama by Dave. Last year’s winner was also a debut album, Arlo Parks took home the 2021 Mercury Prize award for Collapsed In Sunbeams. The 21-year-old singer’s album was chosen from the 12 shortlisted albums. Other 2021 nominees included Mogwai’s As The Love Continues and Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice.

Coverage of the event will be provided by BBC Music, the long-time broadcast partner will document this year’s Mercury Music Prize via radio and television.

We’re sure you’re getting tired of seeing announcements like this. When we planned our 2022 tour 7 months ago we hoped we would be in a more ideal place to carry it out by now. pic.twitter.com/E5kpTWwAUV

— EELS (@THE_EELS) February 17, 2022

In a full statement from the band, they say, “We’re sure you’re getting tired of seeing announcements like this. When we planned our 2022 tour 7 months ago we hoped we would be in a more ideal place to carry it out by now. Hopefully, things are improving but unfortunately, because of the current state of the pandemic and travel & local restrictions, we’re not quite at a point where we can pull off a tour. Our spring ’22 tour of Europe and the U.S. will have to be postponed to spring ’23. We’d come sooner but the rest of this year has been reserved by artists who previously had to cancel. We’re extremely disappointed we won’t get to see you this year, it was going to be doubly rocktastic after not being able to tour in 2020, so we will rock you triply in 2023.” The band go on to add, “Hold on to your tickets, they’ll be valid for the new dates (except Colorado, see below) and if the new date doesn’t work for you you’ll be given a full refund at the point of purchase. All of the cities and venues remain the same except the Boulder, CO show will be refunded and moved to Denver’s Gothic Theatre, the venues in Vienna and Milan have changed but your tickets will be honoured, and we’ve added a new show in Nimes, France.”

The band’s highly anticipated fourteenth studio album Extreme Witchcraft is out now via PIAS and the band’s own E Works Records here. EELS frontman and songwriter, Mark Oliver Everett, co-produced Extreme Witchcraft with PJ Harvey producer and guitarist John Parish, marking the first time the two have recorded together since 2001’s Souljacker album. As of yet, the album has, as of yet, gathered a pretty solid critical response after The New York Times described it is, “A fuzz-toned guitar riff and a snappy beat carry ‘Good Night on Earth,’ a quintessential Eels song: hoarse, succinct, dry-eyed and well aware of life’s ironies.”

Aside from the new album, if you’re a fan of the band and are after a quick fix of new content then you can find a full rundown of tour dates and information here. See the full dates listed below.

26/3/22 – Rock City – Notthingham
27/3 – Roundhouse – London
30/3 – Telegraph Building – Belfast
31/3 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
2/4 – Barrowland – Glasgow
3/4 – Albert Hall – Manchester
4/4 – O2 Guildhall – Southampton

The singer in detailing the meaning of the single stated that it involves an individual who requires assurance from their relationship. The singer’s first musical outing was with her band One Dove in the early 1990s. The singer’s solo success began with the release of her album “Afterglow” in 1999 which received a positive reception.

The director for the video for the single is both a photographer and music video director. The director is also known for her work with PJ Harvey. Cameraman John Minton and Honor and Hopey were enlisted for the filming of the video.

The video was filmed within two hot days in July in Bristol and Wales. The director stated in page press release: “We did keep an eye on the weather and move dates to fit to make sure we got good weather as the video was entirely weather dependent but had no idea it would be quite so hot! “.

The singer said that the flowers in the video possess symbolic meaning and stated “The flower metaphors are rare flowers used to signify a rare, precious, all encompassing love. Blood Camellia suggests flesh, veins and a pulse, Fire Lilies imbue a sense of passion and Juliette Rose seems to hint at Shakespeare.” 

The single has been described as almost being eerily gentle and was written by the singer before the pandemic and reshaped during the lockdown.

In respect to the reshaping of the video during the lockdown, the singer stated “It ended up benefiting the record, even though it’s not a positive thing,” The singer has not yet released details of a tour for her album “Heart Shaped-Scars”. Watch Dot Allison’s video for “One Love” here.

This is part of the artists reissue series, which has been ongoing and will now feature her 5th studio album and will be available on February 26th, 2021. The feminist-punk musician has previously released the records Dry, To Bring You My Love, Dance Hall at Louse Point and Rid of Me in the year 2020.

This month will see another release that is part of that reissue series, the new vinyl edition of Is This Desire? which will come with a demo vinyl as well. Another album of hers which will be released this year as part of her reissue series will be The Hope Six Demolition Project, her documentary ‘A Dog Called Money’ follows the creation of that album and screened in December 2020.

Harvey has released the demos for Dry, among other previously released demo vinyl’s last year and the track The Mess Were In. The demos are available in vinyl and also for streaming on YouTube as of yesterday January 5th, 2021.

Despite the promotional effort with the 2020 and 2021 album and demo reissue series, PJ Harvey has not had any recent performances or new music and does not have any shows coming in he 2021 year as of yet. This is likely due to safety concerns surrounding the growing global health crisis Covid-19, especially with the new lockdown laws that were announced last week in the UK

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PJ Harvey (@pjharveyofficial)

Fans of PJ Harvey will at least have something to celebrate, however. The Universal Music Group – along with the cooperation of the Beggars Archive and Too Pure Records – have announced a twelve-month plan to reissue the British singer-songwriter’s entire back catalogue. According to a statement from her official website, “This catalogue project will celebrate every aspect of Harvey’s recording career and afford a comprehensive and exciting look at the evolution of one of the most singular and extraordinary artists of modern times”.

Beginning on the 24th of July, all nine of Harvey’s studio albums will receive a new CD edition and Vinyl repressing, in addition to her two collaborations with John Parish: 1996’s Dance Hall at Louse Point and 2009’s A Woman a Man Walked By. Each of the records will also be issued alongside a companion album of demos, compiled from their respective recording sessions. Rough cuts of songs that were later re-recorded for studio release, as well as sketches that didn’t make the final tracklist, will be made available in standalone compilations for the first time. 

Recorded nearly thirty years ago at The Ice House in Yeovil, Harvey’s 1992 debut Dry will be the first in this series to be reissued alongside the 11-track collection DRY – Demos. In the run-up to the release, Harvey has shared a demo version of her single “Sheela-Na-Gig” from the collection. You can listen to the song below, and pre-order Dry and the Dry – Demos via her official store.

Featured image taken by Maria Mochnacz with permission from Vagrant Records.

The show also happened to be held on her 46th birthday.

At the show Harvey, accompanied by photographs and films, performed  a selection of poems from her new book along with a collection of ten unreleased songs, Pitchfork reports. The songs are likely from her forthcoming ninth studio album, which she recorded in public during a month long art exhibition at London’s Somerset House earlier this year.

You can watch snippets of the performance here and here.

Harvey was reported to have played the following songs: ‘Chain of Keys’, ‘The Wheel’, ‘The Orange Monkey’, ‘Dollar Dollar’, ‘The Community of Hope’, ‘Homo Sappy Blues’, ‘Medicinals’, ‘Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln’, ‘River Anacostia’ and ‘The Ministry of Social Affairs’.

Earlier this year she also sold lyric sheets for songs from her new album, including “Sight Seeing South of the River”, “Medicinals”, “The Children”, “The Ministry of Social Affairs”, “The Revolving Wheel”, “Imagine This”, “River Anacostia”, and “UNHCR”.