PJ Harvey's wordy two years

PJ Harvey spent two years writing only words in preparation for her new album.

The singer and songwriter is poised to release her eighth album, 'Let England Shake', next month and said she has only now reached the level of confidence in her writing she has always strived for.

She told website drownedinsound.com: "I wrote purely words and nothing else for about two years. I've become much more interested in their construction.

"So when I actually come to playing with musical ideas, it's really to make a bed for the words to lie in.

"It takes me a long time and I don't find it easy. I've always been somebody who's very interested in what's going on in the world, what's happening in politics and around us daily, yet I'd never felt that I had reached the point as a writer, particularly of words, where I could express those concepts very well."

Polly Jean also said she the album - which gives reflections on British life, the country's heritage, patriotism and images of wars past, rather than the more introspective nature of much of her work - is the first time she has tackled such grand subjects.

She added: "I didn't feel confident enough in the past to approach giant subjects like conflict and one's nation and war. But this was the first time in my life where I began to try and do it, and to see if it were possible."

'Let England Shake' will be released on February 14.