As everyone knows, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey are two brilliant songwriters, who sang together hot numbers and of course they were once an item, a match made in heaven or hell… Although I know nothing about their current relationship, I imagine it must be a very strange thing to revisit an ex’s song? But PJ just did a cover of Nick’s famous song ‘Red Right Hand’, straight from the Bad Seeds’ 1994 album ‘Let Love In’.
However, she totally reinvented the song, her cover has almost nothing to do with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ menacing and terrifying version. With PJ, the song has become a spooky piano ballad haunted by her sad vocals and I can’t really decide whether the tone is more somber than creepy, or more depressing than sinister. She seems to be ready to collapse at each line and builds a intense atmosphere while the piano notes echo like heavy drops on a cold ground.
She recorded the song for a recent episode of the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, which has also included songs by Arctic Monkeys, Johnny Cash, Jack White and even Nick Cave himself. According to NME, Peaky Blinders and PJ Harvey producer has revealed he did not want to let people believe that the show was becoming too American: ‘We’re trying to make it feel much more European and British and PJ fits that bill perfectly’, he told BBC Radio. ‘I phoned Polly up and she was very interested. We’re trying to deconstruct all of Polly’s material and then weave it through. It’s very cutting-edge and modern.’
Listen to PJ Harvey’s very personal take on ‘Red Right Hand’ below, but be aware that it is sadly not the complete song!
