Interview: Harry Escotthttps://www.m-magazine.co.uk/features/i ... ry-escott/
How did the collaboration with PJ Harvey come about? What was it like working together?It was all thanks to Clio Barnard. During the first conversation I had with Clio about the score for Dark River, we talked about writing a song to bookend the film. She saw the film as a kind of murder ballad – akin to the tales that were told in folk songs and ballads of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She asked whether I thought it was possible to draw on that art form to create something that felt appropriate for her tale, and whether I thought PJ Harvey would be a god fit to sing the song.
That is one of the thrilling parts of my job – I am lucky enough to work with people who give you so much inspiration to play with. Granted, it was a tall order, but I knew there was an opportunity to try and do something special.
A couple of weeks later, it was all happening – I was in a room with Clio at PJ Harvey’s place and we were discussing potential lyrics, going through books of poetry, nursery rhymes and folk songs. I was a fan of her music, but having had the opportunity to work with her and witness her art first hand, I think she is very special indeed. That moment when I heard her first take coming through the speakers at the recording session… shatteringly beautiful.