Performed Let England Shake on Andrew Marr Show

In April 2010, Harvey appeared on The Andrew Marr Show to perform a new song titled “Let England Shake”. In a pre-performance interview with Marr, she stated that the new material she had written had been “formed out of the landscape that I’ve grown up in and the history of this nation” and as “a human being affected by politics.” Her eighth studio album Let England Shake was released in February 2011, and received universal critical acclaim. NME ‘ s 10/10 review summarised the album as “a record that ventures deep into the heart of darkness of war itself and its resonance throughout England’s past, present and future” and other reviews also noted its themes and writing style as “bloody and forceful”, mixing “ethereal form with brutal content”, and “her most powerful.” Dealing with the then-conflict in Afghanistan and other episodes from English history, the album featured John Parish, Mick Harvey and Jean-Marc Butty as Harvey’s backing band and the quartet toured extensively in its promotion. Following the release of the album’s two well-received singles—” The Words That Maketh Murder ” and ” The Glorious Land “—and the collection of short films by Seamus Murphy to accompany the album, Harvey won her second Mercury Music Prize on 6 September. The award marked her as the first artist to receive the award twice, entering her into the Guinness World Records as the only artist to have achieved this, and sales of Let England Shake increased 1,190% overnight following her win. On 23 September, Let England Shake was certified Gold in the United Kingdom and was listed as album of the year by MOJO and Uncut .