Lately, Polly Jean Harvey has been trying too hard. From her in-your-face sexuality to the art-of-noise production of her last few albums, it feels like she's hiding behind a wall of unnecessary, distancing artifice. But if that has been the disease, her fifth full-length Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea may be the cure. Inspired by a six-month relocation to New York, this self-produced effort strips away the muck and gloss of Is This Desire? to let Harvey's songs stand or fall on their own. Most stand, from Patti Smith-inspired guitar mantras like Good Fortune and This is Love (with its memorable couplet, "I can't believe life is so complex, when I just wanna sit here and watch you undress.") to a trio of moody brooders featuring Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Stories isn't Harvey's finest moment -- not much is going to top Dry. But it is her least contrived album in some time. That's a happy ending in our book.

Track Listing
1. Big Exit
2. Good Fortune
3. A Place Called Home
4. One Line
5. Beautiful Feeling
6. The Whores Hustle and The Hustlers Whore
7. This Mess We're In
8. You Said Something
9. Kamikaze
10. This Is Love
11. Horses In My Dreams
12. We Float