PJ HARVEY: THE ORANGE MONKEY – VIDEO

PJ HARVEY 

THE ORANGE MONKEY – VIDEO

Watch here: http://po.st/TheOrangeMonkeyYT

THE HOPE SIX DEMOLITION PROJECT
AVAILABLE NOW ON VAGRANT RECORDS

© Maria Mochnacz
© Maria Mochnacz

Taken from PJ Harvey’s UK #1 album The Hope Six Demolition Project, released in April on Island Records. Video directed by award-winning photo-journalist and film-maker Seamus Murphy.

The video for The Orange Monkey, the third track to be taken from Harvey’s chart topping album The Hope Six Demolition Project, was shot in Afghanistan and follows videos for ‘The Wheel’ and ‘The Community of Hope’, also directed by Murphy.

PJ Harvey and her band will perform a number of festival dates across Europe this summer, including Primavera Sound, this Saturday 4th June ahead of London’s Field Day on Sunday 12th June, and a return to Glastonbury on Sunday 26th June, twelve years after her last appearance at Worthy Farm. In August, she will perform in the U.S. for the first time in five years at Terminal 5 in New York City and Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

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

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Director’s Notes for The Orange Monkey video

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 colours 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.   – Seamus Murphy

© Seamus Murphy
© Seamus Murphy