Sales for PJ Harvey’s latest album, ‘Let England Shake,’ have exploded since the singer won the coveted Mercury Prize earlier this week.
After winning the prize, sales of the album increased more than 650%, selling over 3,300 copies. This week has proved to be the biggest week for sales of the album since its release with three days remaining, meaning that there is still room for sales to further increase.
‘Let England Shake’ was released in February and debuted at No. 8 on the Official Charts Company Artist Albums Chart. The album stood at No. 181 on last week’s chart, but has secured its place on this week’s chart at No. 29. Until last week, the album had sold approximately 75,000 copies in the UK alone and had hit the No. 32 spot on the Billboard 200. The album has also hit the Top 10 in several other countries, including Australia. It is Harvey’s first UK Top 10 album since the release of ‘Rid of Me’ back in 1993.
Harvey has cited a number of different influences for the creation of the critically acclaimed album, including The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and artist Salvador Dali. She initially began writing songs for the album using an autoharp and had to condition her voice especially for the album.
This year marked Harvey’s fourth nomination for the award and the second time that she has received it. She first won the Mercurty Prize in 2001.
