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Jun 02, 2016 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Seamus Murphy PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey released her new album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, back in April via Vagrant. Now she has shared a video for “The Orange Monkey.” It was shot in Afghanistan and, like the other videos for this album, was directed by photo journalist/filmmaker Seamus Murphy. The video doesn’t feature Harvey, but instead includes slices of life in the war torn country. Watch it below.

Murphy commented on the video in a press release: “With the films I make for Polly Harvey’s music I try to reflect the song’s tune and mood, which means tapping into emotion. I find emotion a truer compass than intellect when it comes to finding images and creating sequences for music.

“‘The Orange Monkey’ has warm, earthen colors with a pleasant, unrushed feel to it. There’s an underlying melancholy, which is leavened by the strength and energy of the Afghan people. We know there is tragedy but what we see is resilience.

“All the material for the film was shot in Afghanistan over two trips I made in 2012 and one in 2014. In December 2012 Polly joined me and we travelled together in Afghanistan. Places featured are Kabul, Parwan, Nangarhar and Helmand Provinces.

The country is different each time; different politics, different conditions, different dangers and then there’s the physical differences brought about by the change in seasons. Songs gets drawn from many experiences and events in a writer’s life and some elements could equally fit other songs about other things. Films work in similar ways. Would the shot of the baker drinking his Chai Sabz (green tea) be any different had it been taken on an earlier or later trip? This film comes from work made over several recent trips but also from a reservoir of memories dating back to my first visit to Afghanistan in 1994.”

Back in January of 2015 Harvey recorded part of her album in public as part of a month-long exhibition at London’s Somerset House. The Hope Six Demolition Project was written during Harvey’s travels to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, D.C. over a four-year period and is the long-awaited follow-up to 2011’s acclaimed Let England Shake, which won the Mercury Prize (she’s the only artist to have won it twice, also winning for 2001’s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea). Feel free to read our review of The Hope Six Demolition Project.

PJ Harvey Tour Dates:

June 4 - Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain
June 5 - We Love Green Festival, Paris, France
June 7 - Release Athens, Athens, Greece
June 8 - Zorlu Performing Arts Centre, Istanbul, Turkey
June 10 - Primavera Sound, Porto, Portugal
June 12 - Field Day, London, United Kingdom
June 17 - Sideways Festival, Helsinki, Finland
June 18 - Ahmad Tea Music Festival, Moscow, Russia
June 20 - Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin, Germany
June 22 - INMusic, Zagreb, Croatia
June 24 - Down The Rabbit Hole, Beuningen, Netherlands
June 26 - Glastonbury, United Kingdom
June 27 - Eden Sessions, Cornwall, United Kingdom
June 29 - Open’er Festival, Gdynia, Poland
June 30 - Roskilde Festival, Denmark
July 2 - Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
July 3 - Beauregard Festival, Herouville St Clair, France
July 7 - Pohoda Festival, Trenčín, Slovakia
July 8 - Harvest of Art Festival, Vienna, Austria‬
August 11 - OYA, Oslo, Norway‬
August 12 - Way Out West, Gothenburg, Sweden‬
August 16 - Terminal 5, New York City, NY (SOLD OUT)
August 18 - Shrine Expo Hall, Los Angeles, CA
November 6 - Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik, Iceland