PJ Harvey's Is This Desire? finds her delivering on the promise of her earlier albums. Without losing any of the rage of her earlier, more guitar-driven work, she further refines her psychotic tales of obsession and despair. All the while laying down a sonic groundwork which is always experimental and unexpected, including a heavy dose of electronica.

Harvey's trademark whisper-to-a-scream vocal style is present throughout Is This Desire?. "The Sky Lit Up" sees a casual, almost spoken vocal erupt slowly into an otherworldly wail, accented perfectly by wild guitar textures. "Catherine" is a sublime, evocative ballad, whose vitriolic lyrics are juxtaposed against a soft, rolling backing track. "The Garden" skips along at a determined pace, with keyboard textures and swelling strings making it a quintessential PJ Harvey composition: haunting, angry and thoroughly unusual.