PJ Harvey’s follow-up to 2011’s Mercury Prize-winning Let England Shake will be part live album and part studio LP. Harvey will be doing the recording in an art exhibit called Recording in Progress. For four weeks, Harvey, her band, producers and engineers will occupy a glass-encased studio in the Somerset House in London to record Harvey’s upcoming album as museumgoers watch as the singer creates the songs from scratch.
The box surrounding the studio will be constructed with one-way glass, meaning spectators can look in but Harvey and her team can’t see into the crowd. Soon after the exhibit was announced, the allotment of 3,000 tickets to watch Harvey record her new album in 45-minute sessions quickly sold out, BBC News writes.
“I want Recording in Progress to operate as if we’re an exhibition in a gallery,” Harvey said in a statement. “I hope people will see the attention and the labor and the care that goes into making a recording. I hope people will see the interactions between everyone involved.”
