Picture a young boy running in the middle of a field in England. As a random of an image that it may seem, the music video for PJ Harvey’s “The Crowded Cell” is just that.
The Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist wrote the original song “The Crowded Cell” for the soundtrack of Channels 4’s four-part drama series The Virtues. The soundtrack includes five additional original PJ Harvey’s songs and is available digitally through Invada Records.
“The Virtues” creator Shane Meadows directed the music video which consists of the show’s closing credits with child actor Lee Pepper playing the role of the younger version of the show’s protagonist Joseph.
While the video is one shot, it still holds as an entertaining piece that shows the complexity of the show’s plot. “We discover throughout the series that young Joseph ran away from a care home when he was nine years old. We shot these flashbacks on an old VHS camera that we bought the day before online which adds an authenticity to the footage,” Medows said.
PJ Harvey stated that she has been been an admirer of Medows’ work for a while and was thrilled to work with him.
“Shane has a unique directness and sensibility to his work which I am drawn to and aspire to in my own work, so our collaboration was open and trusting. I sent Shane ideas as demos for him to try out as he edited and let him choose what he used and where to greatest effect,” PJ Harvey said.
The soundtrack includes songs from MONO, Aphex Twin, Toydrum, Set Fire To Flames, Michael P. Hinson, Lisa Hannigan, Ted Barnes and Gazelle Twin.
The song list is as follows:
- PJ Harvey – Prayer
- Set Fire To Flames – When Sorrow Shoots Her Darts
- Toydrum – Jesus Song (Rival Consoles Rework)
- Micah P. Hinson – Beneath The Rose
- PJ Harvey – Submerge
- PJ Harvey – Death
- Lisa Hannigan – Flowers
- MONO – The Flames Beyond The Cold Mountain
- Aphex Twin – Gwely Mermans
- Ted Barnes ft. Gavin Clarke – If The Truth Hurts
- PJ Harvey – The Lonely Wolf
- Gazelle Twin – Cutting Into Flesh
- PJ Harvey – Subterranean
- PJ Harvey – The Crowded Cell
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