Let England Shake (reissue) vinyl

Polly Jean Harvey broke into the common conscious with her unique and individual approach to alternative rock, and she's managed to maintain that aural autonomy throughout a storied career that has simultaneously found favour in the musical mainstream and refused to stray far from the leftfield. A difficult balance to strike, this, her eighth solo studio album, is indicative of that point. There's nothing here not to enjoy, but there's very little here you could predict.

Not least given where it sits in her back catalogue. Production began as the seminal but decidedly hushed White Chalk was released, and this record couldn't be more different from the preceding LP. Doing away with introspect, for the most part anyway, and refocusing attention away from pianos, it's a rousing indie collection that further cements the artist as one of Britain's national treasures.