PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By

Hearing the first few bars of A Woman A Man Walked By without knowing what it is and you may find yourself excited about a new Polvo record. But when you realize, by the time the vocals come in, it is in fact PJ Harvey and John Parish, it is one of the only times you will not be disappointed to find out it was not Polvo. It’s good that Harvey and Parish got back in the studio. The new album is familiar to the sound and time in which we first fell in love with Harvey/Parish. Consequently, from an evolutionary standpoint, what we have is an album that is the past rehashed. This career path is common. You’re young, raw, fresh and new (4 Track Demos) then, the industry beats you up yet you evolve (Is This Desire?/Rid of Me) and then you start getting older and you start to mellow out and as a result, your music reflects it (Stories from the City) but your fans hate you for it and then you go back to the basics (Uh Huh Her and now, A Woman A Man Walked By).

On A Woman, we find the man-hating lyrics and dissident vocals we’d expect to hear from Harvey. The title track is a belligerent rampage towards a certain man in Harvey’s life. And, again from an evolutionary standpoint only this time personal, one has to think, “Maybe it’s ‘me’ and how ‘I’ am managing my relationships.” However, on Harvey/Parish’s new go at it, the album seems nostalgic and contrived – probably because, back then, that’s when things were good, musically. Good meaning the fans were intensely engaged. It’s unfortunate that fans lose interests in artists when the artists’ work begins to show signs of personal growth. Stories from the City was a landmark for Harvey and it is disappointing to see Harvey now regressing.

Harvey and Parish’s willingness to step outside of conventional melodies and arrangements is certainly appreciated yet on songs like, “April” and “Pig Will Not,” it just gets to be down-right unpleasant. Of course, unpleasant is the point but you know? It’s just unpleasant to listen to. The good thing is that PJ Harvey fans will like this album because it sounds like the album they listened to right after their boyfriend dumped them back in ’96. However, from the overall look at Harvey/Parish’s work, the arc has somewhat flat-lined.

Related posts:

1. The Soul of John Black – Black John
2. The Bird and The Bee – Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
3. Darker My Love – Alive As You Are

Tagged as: alternative pop, Los Angeles

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