PJ Harvey releases new single 'Voyager'

PJ Harvey has released her new single 'Voyager', an early glimpse of her next studio album.

The track originated during sessions for Harvey's upcoming record, which she teased in January, before physicist and musician Brian Cox heard the song and invited her to contribute it to his Emergence tour.

Beginning as a solo composition, it was then expanded into its final form at Miraval Studios, recorded with a full orchestra and an arrangement by Dario Marianelli, the Oscar-winning composer whose film scores include Atonement, Pride & Prejudice and Darkest Hour.

'Voyager' takes its name from the NASA probes launched in 1977, which contained astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan's Voyager Golden Record - a document of sights, sounds, and greetings from Earth to explain the planet to any extraterrestrial life that might intercept them.

"I was excited for the challenge to compose a song in the voice of Voyager 2", she said.

"I have long been fascinated by the spacecraft and its journey, and asked myself what it might say to us if it could. This was an inspiring route to take to develop the song."

In 1991, Polly Jean Harvey began her career when she formed a trio called PJ Harvey. The trio released two studio albums, Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993), before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist. Since 1995, she has released a further ten studio albums.

Listen to 'Voyager' below.