PJ Harvey reveals drawings Nick Cave made for her

Manny Sanchez

Nick Cave and PJ Harvey briefly dated in the '90s; Nick reminisced on the dissolution of the relationship last year on his Red Hand Files site, saying that when she told she wanted to break up, "I was so surprised I almost dropped my syringe." Now PJ has shared a few mementos of their time together, which are currently on display as part of Nick's "Stranger Than Kindness" exhibition in Copenhagen. There are two drawings Nick did for PJ, and a collage PJ made around a photo of the two of them.

"Like many musicians I came out of art school," Polly writes, "and drawing has been an ongoing part of my life. Nick Cave and I made a lot of drawings for each other, and here are two lovely drawings of Nick’s currently on display in his ‘Stranger Than Kindness’ exhibition at The Black Diamond in Copenhagen."

About the collage, she writes, "I made this collage for Nick during the time I was writing [Is This Desire?], and in some ways the words of the collage went on to inform the song, Is This Desire?, and indeed the whole album."

See both drawings, and the collage, below.

Meanwhile, PJ has been reissuing her catalog of albums on vinyl and CD, and she's up to her fourth LP, 1998's Is This Desire?. The reissue is due out on January 29, 2021 via UMe/Island, and like with previous releases there's also a separate LP of demos. Hear the first one, of "Angelene," below. "I’m very happy to be releasing the Is This Desire? demos for the first time," PJ writes. "When I am writing an album the demos of the songs capture the atmosphere of the moment in a way that can never be replicated."

In other news, a documentary about the creation of one of PJ's more recent albums, 2016's The Hope Six Demolition Project, is coming to streaming for the first time. Seamus Murphy's 2019 film A Dog Called Money will stream at 8 PM ET on Monday, December 7, with an introduction from Murphy, and tickets are on sale now.

After the premiere, A Dog Called Money will arrive on Film Forum NYC's virtual theater starting on Wednesday, December 9. Watch a trailer for the documentary below.