PJ Harvey has returned with “Voyager,” new single and video that offers the first glimpse into the songwriter’s next chapter following 2023’s Grammy-nominated album, I Inside the Old Year Dying. Originally taking shape as part of Harvey’s forthcoming album, “Voyager” found new inspiration when physicist Professor Brian Cox invited her to contribute music to his ongoing Emergence tour. The song takes its name from NASA’s Voyager probes, launched in 1977 and still traveling through interstellar space nearly five decades later.
Recorded with a full orchestra at Miraval Studios in Provence, “Voyager” is built around the interplay between string arrangements and pulsing synthesizer signals. The result is an expansive piece that feels cosmic. Harvey uses the song to reflect on humanity’s place within the vastness of the universe, drawing on imagery such as Carl Sagan’s famous “pale blue dot,” snowflakes, and dust suspended in a sunbeam. Amid those reflections, the track ultimately arrives at a hopeful message, encouraging listeners to choose light and choose love.
Harvey explained that she approached the song by imagining the perspective of Voyager 2 itself, asking what the spacecraft might say if it could communicate directly with Earth. That idea, combined with research into the history of Voyager 1 and 2 and discussions with composer Dario Marianelli about orchestral accompaniment, helped shape the finished piece.
The accompanying video visually complements the song’s themes, pairing Harvey’s meditation on distance, exploration, and connection with imagery that reinforces the scale and wonder of the Voyager mission. Together, the song and video offer a thoughtful and ambitious return from Harvey.
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