PJ Harvey has paid tribute to the late record producer Steve Albini, sharing “He changed the course of my life”.
Harvey and Albini worked together on creating her second studio LP, 1993’s ‘Rid Of Me’. The ‘You Said Something’ singer chose to work with Albini after admiring his distinctively raw recordings of bands like Pixies, Slint, The Breeders and The Jesus Lizard.
The legendary record producer – who was the mastermind behind iconic albums such as Nirvana‘s ‘In Utero‘ and Manic Street Preachers‘ ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’– died yesterday (May 8) of a heart attack while at Electronic Audio – his recording studio in Chicago. His death was confirmed by the studio’s staff members.
Taking to her Instagram account, Harvey shared a photo of the front and back cover of ‘Rid Of Me’ and paid tribute to Albini in the caption.
“Meeting Steve Albini and working with him changed the course of my life. He taught me so much about music, and life. Steve was a great friend – wise, kind and generous. I am so grateful,” she wrote. “My thoughts are with him and his family and friends as we suffer his loss.”
While appearing on MTV’s 120 Minutes in 1993, the musican explained that Albini’s: “Sound just sounds like a band. He’s the only person I know that can record a drum kit and it sounds like you’re standing in front of a drum kit.”
She continued: “It doesn’t sound like it’s gone through a recording process or it’s coming out of speakers. You can feel the sound he records, and that is why I wanted to work with him, ’cause all I ever wanted is for us to be recorded and to sound like we do when we’re playing together in a room, and that’s never happened before.” She also praised his innovative studio setup for “capturing the feeling of the sound.”
Upon its release, ‘Rid Of Me’ landed the Number Three spot on the UK charts and the Number 10 spot on the Bilboard US Heatseekers Albums Chart. The LP would go on to garner admiration from various musicians such as Elastica, Karen O, Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette, Phoebe Bridgers and Ethel Cain.
In other news, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker recently paid tribute to Albini, sharing: “Listen to the music he was involved in & read what he wrote about it. It’s worth it.”
The Cribs also paid tribute to the legendary producer, writing “It’s hard to imagine Steve Albini being gone”.
Elsewhere, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic told NME last year about Kurt Cobain’s decision to have him work on the classic ‘In Utero’.