Marking the second time PJ Harvey and John Parish have collaborated (their initial partnership resulted in 1996's 'Dance Hall at Louse Point' album, although Parish has frequently appeared on Harvey's albums), 'A Woman a Man Walked By' is an intoxicating record from the get-go. Harvey, of course, needs no introduction: creator of some of the most seminal British albums of the past two decades, her back catalogue speaks for itself. Parish has skilfully produced a number of diverse artists, but his finest work always seems to transpire through his alliances with the Dorset native.
'A Woman a Man Walked By' is an alliance of the truest nature, too; Parish has written the music and plays the bulk of the instruments here, while Harvey, responsible for lyrics, has written songs as simultaneously strange and stirring as always. 'The Soldier', in particular, reads like a piece of modern poetry, while simple lines like 'When you call out my name in rapture / I volunteer my soul for murder' ('Black Hearted Love') exhibit her inherent literate poise.
Truth be told, Harvey is unsurprisingly the real star of this album, despite the gorgeous offbeat instrumentation that's heavy with grungey tension and unsettling rhythms. Her voice occupies a space that's both not-of-this-world and rooted to Earth's core, while she manages to naturally inhabit various characters like she's channelling their spirits - see the spoken word title track and funereal 'Cracks in the Canvas', or on the ferocious rawness of 'Pig Will Not' for demonstrations. An album to immerse yourself in - though you may not completely understand why - time and time again.