PJ Harvey: “Down By The Water” (Island)

Menace dripping from its every note, ‘Lying In The Sun’ is a taut, violent track that always threatens to explode but never quite does. ‘Down By The Water’ is in more mellow mode, while ‘Somebody’s Down, Somebody’s Name’ is raw, ballsy, visceral and unsettling blues-rock. Not for the faint of heart, this invigorating release runs away with the much-coveted Single Of The Week title. Not so difficult to do, considering the sheer shittiness of most of the competition, but ‘Down By The Water’ is highly impressive by anyone’s standards.