PJ Harvey to record new album as Somerset House art exhibition

The two-time Mercury Prize winner will offer fans access to the four-week creative process of putting together her next record in a new installation currently titled Recording in Progress.

Harvey, 45, has been working closely with art producers Artangel and the project will be art-oriented.

Producers Flood and John Parish will be assisting Harvey on the album, along with her band and sound engineers.

The exhibition will be held in a specially-designed studio that will enable visitors to look in through one-way glass.

“I want Recording in Progress to operate as if we’re an exhibition in a gallery,” said Harvey. “I hope visitors will be able to experience the flow and energy of the recording process.”

Somerset House says in a statement that each small group will “experience something different, depending on what point in its development a particular song has reached and which of its elements are mixed live”.

Tickets for 50-minute slots at Recording in Progress are on sale now and cost £15, with £12 concessions. The exhibition opens on 16 January and runs until 14 February, with advance booking essential.