PJ Harvey‘s “Community of Hope” video presents a tour of Washington, D.C., New York City and elsewhere through the lens of filmmaker Seamus Murphy. The track comes from Harvey’s upcoming album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, which will come out on April 15th.
It begins with a man explaining that an “old, notorious housing project” had been leveled for a mixed-income housing development dubbed “Hope 6.” “It’s supposed to rejuvenate everything,” he says. “It certainly looks a lot better.”
Harvey’s Washington, D.C.–centric lyrics toe the line between hopeful and bleak, as she sings about zombies in “Drugtown,” a school that “looks like a shithole” and a mental institution that’s been retrofitted into a Homeland Security place.
The video seems more hopeful, though. Its imagery juxtaposes police cars with school buses, people smiling and celebrating with a shot of the Statute of Liberty. It ends with a group of gospel singers practicing and performing the tune’s final refrain: “They’re gonna put a Walmart heeee-re.”
