PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Man A Woman Walks By [Album]

Island Records

April 24, 2009, 07:08 PM

Views: 766   Comments: 1

Buy PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Man A Woman Walks By [Album] From Amazon.com

The eclectic and eccentric Blues-Rock sorceress PJ Harvey has reunited with past collaborator John Parish once more to craft an emotionally charged, brutally powerful album that bellows haunting poetry.

In the same fashion as their previous effort (Dance Hall at Louse Point), Harvey and Parish split the responsibility of song craft directly down the middle. Parish writing the music and playing the majority of the instruments, allowing Harvey’s imagination to truly run wild with the lyrics.

Deceptive opening track Black Hearted Love is a grungy-guitar based dirge. The song’s shoe-gaze persuasion is a stark contrast to the haunting and gothic fantasy that is to follow. Leaving California takes Harvey’s vocal range to an eerie level; and coupled with creaky reverb-drenched piano the track develops an unsettling atmosphere.

Much of the tunes on the album occupy this same uneasy atmosphere at one stage or another. The title track A Woman A Man Walks By / The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go sees Harvey taking on an animalistic growl while angrily describing an unfortunate gender-confused individual. Aggression is soon replaced by melody however, and the song becomes a layered ramble that wouldn’t be out of place on Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti.

While the result of this musically esteemed pair’s efforts appears palatable, it does feel as though something is lacking. Be it focus on a particular style or cohesion between the music and the lyrics, the album certainly possesses a sense of misguided creativity. In places, the aggression and angst feel almost juvenile; then as if from nowhere heart-felt lullabies and moments of near ethereal beauty appear (Cracks In The Canvas). You cannot deny the volume of ideas in this record – they’re present by the truckload. Unfortunately though, it may well be the sheer amount of artistic indulgence and creative cavorting that lets this album float away in to disillusion.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report