Early material released by the trio on Dry, 4 Track Demos and Rid of Me was praised by critics for its raw lo-fi, many times acoustic guitar sound and melancholic, witty lyrics. After the trio broke up, Harvey released To Bring You My Love, a blues-heavy album that expanded the range of her sound through the incorporation of strings, organs, and electronic sound effects. Her stage show became more theatrical, with Harvey performing in ballgowns, pink catsuits, wigs and garish, vampish make-up. Never one to rest, she followed this album with the softer, more experimental Is This Desire? and then Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, which combined her more guitar-driven work with cleaner, lusher arrangements. In 2004 she released Uh Huh Her which marked a return to her earlier, rawer sound. Her most recent album, White Chalk was released in 2007. Apparently the result of writer's block (according to reports made by the BBC), White chalk explored new territories for Harvey. Jettisoning the guitar-driven sound, she instead concentrated on the piano, an instrument she was unfamiliar with prior to the album. The new direction garnered much praise for Harvey.

She has also collaborated with a number of other artists, including Nick Cave, Thom Yorke, Bjork, John Parish, Tricky, Sparklehorse, Josh Homme, Pascal Comelade and Mark Lanegan. PJ Harvey has also been a collaborator in the Desert Sessions, along with Josh Homme, Jeordie White, Dave Catching, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, Dean Ween, and many others.

Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. Raised in Corscombe, Dorset, Harvey formed the band (calling it PJ Harvey) as a teenager with drummer Rob Ellis and bassist Ian Olliver, who was replaced with Steve Vaughan. The trio released their first album Dry in 1992. Ellis and Vaughan left the band after the release of Rid of Me (1993), and Harvey continued as a solo artist.

Among the accolades she has received have been the 2001 Mercury Music Prize, seven BRIT Award nominations, five Grammy Award nominations and two further Mercury Music Prize nominations. Rolling Stone named her 1992's Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter and 1995's Artist of the Year, and placed two of her albums (Rid of Me, To Bring You My Love) on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. She was also rated the number one female rock artist by Q magazine in a 2002 reader poll. Harvey has said that she enjoys performing more than writing and recording because performing is when the music "makes more sense".