( RollingStone.com ) -- All British rock stars eventually make their version of `` Led Zeppelin III '' -- the album where they look to the history and mythology of England for inspiration . Usually , this means pastoral celebrations and druids dancing around the maypole . ( Hark , minstrel ! Is that a bustle in the hedgerow ? ) But Polly Jean Harvey , as always , does things her own way , so there 's no celebration on `` Let England Shake . '' Even as she sings , `` Take me back to beautiful England , '' she focuses on war , imperialism and bad sanitation . `` Let England Shake '' sounds a world apart from the introspective piano confessions of Harvey 's last solo album , 2007 's `` White Chalk . '' For England , she holed up in a rural 19th-century church , accompanied by longtime collaborators like John Parish , Mick Harvey and producer Flood . The sound is muted guitar/organ balladry , heavy on melody but never rocking out , channeling her voice through different electronic filters for that extra touch of spooky alienation . In `` The Last Living Rose , '' she sings about Blighty 's `` gray , damp filthiness of ages . '' Click to Listen to PJ Harvey 's `` Let England Shake '' Always an underrated guitarist , Harvey makes use of the jaunty rhythms of British folk music , but takes no comfort in the past . And you do n't have to care about English history -- or England in general -- to fall under Harvey 's spell . Copyright © 2010 Rolling Stone .
`` Let England Shake '' sounds a world apart from Harvey 's last solo album , 2007 's `` White Chalk '' The sound is muted guitar/organ balladry , heavy on melody but never rocking out . She was in a rural 19th-century church with collaborators like John Parish , Mick Harvey .