THE first release from her forthcoming album Let England Shake, the song begins with jangly guitars, jumpy rhythms and Harvey on the saxophone.

Don’t let the joyful sounds fool you, the real message is hidden within the lyrics.

The track is the clearest indication to date of the more outward looking and political lyrical style embraced by Harvey, and has been much discussed in her recent interviews. The overall effect so gripping, even chilling, as the juxtaposition is bewitchingly effective from the start. She leaves the weightiest punch for the final minute, when she poses a presumably rhetorical question: “What if I take my problems to the United Nations?”