PJ Harvey releases Voyager single inspired by NASA probes

Musician PJ Harvey has released a new single titled "Voyager," her first new music in three years. The song, out now via Partisan Records, is a sweeping, orchestral track inspired by NASA's Voyager space probes and was recorded for physicist Professor Brian Cox's upcoming live show.

The song draws its inspiration from the twin Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, which continue to travel through interstellar space. Harvey explained that she approached the composition by imagining the perspective of Voyager 2. She said she was excited by the challenge to compose a song in the voice of the spacecraft, contemplating what message it might send back to Earth.

"Voyager" was originally conceived as part of the material for Harvey's next studio album, details of which have not yet been announced. The project took a new direction after Cox invited her to contribute a song for his "Emergence" live stage show, which is scheduled for performances in the U.K. later this year. Harvey sent Cox a voice memo of the initial idea, which immediately reminded him of the Voyager craft and the sound of its signal transmitting back to Earth.

With that concept as a foundation, Harvey developed the song...