The origin of PJ Harvey's The Wheel - both the song and the video - comes from her longstanding creative relationship with photojournalist and filmmaker Seamus Murphy. They began working together with Murphy's series of films to accompany Harvey's last album Let England Shake, after the singer had seen his photojournalism in Afghanistan and Kosovo.Then, as Murphy explains below, a return to Kosovo to show the Let England Shake films became an inspiration of the song - the first track from her forthcoming album, The Hope Six Demolition Project. The video for The Wheel contains elements of Murphy's visits to the Balkans at different periods but it's the current migrant crisis that looms large, with the video's most recent footage being shot by Murphy on the Greek and Macedonian border. An utterly absorbing, important piece of work.
David Knight - 4th Feb 2016