PJ Harvey to Become War Correspondent for Imperial War Museum?

PJ Harvey looks set to be the first musician to become a war correspondent for the Imperial War Museum and could be offered the opportunity to travel to areas where the British Army is engaged in armed conflict.

Harvey's new album, 'Let England Shake,' concerns itself with the nature of war and was partly prompted by the conflict in Iraq. Speaking of the writing process behind the album on BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row' programme, the singer told host John Wilson that she had spent two-and-a-half years researching her subject matter.

"I started wondering where the officially appointed war songwriter was," she explained "You have got your war artists, like Steve McQueen, and your war photographers. I fantasised that I had been appointed this official songwriter and so I almost took on that challenge for myself."

Roger Tolson, the head of collections at the Imperial War Museum told the Observer, "We are certainly interested in working with PJ Harvey.

"It is something we can take forward as we have never commissioned anybody in that capacity. We have other kinds of works of art using sound... but we have never sent a musician out to a conflict zone."

The subject will now go before the museum's committee for further discussion ahead of any decision being made.

Watch the Video to PJ Harvey's 'The Words That Maketh Murder'