A Woman a Man Walked By (2009) For years, Polly Jean Harvey's raw, defiantly female perspective has gone at hard topics with bracing emotional sandpaper. Here, she often just picks up a… John Parish P.J. Harvey
Wallflowers: P.J. Harvey and John Parish
Image credit: Maria Mochnaez
Wallflowers: P.J. Harvey and John Parish
EW's GRADE
B-

Details Release Date: Mar 31, 2009; Lead Performances: John Parish and P.J. Harvey

For years, Polly Jean Harvey's raw, defiantly female perspective has gone at hard topics with bracing emotional sandpaper. Here, she often just picks up a brick and smashes. Though A Woman a Man Walked By does have strong moments with longtime collaborator Parish, exercises in atonality like ''Pig Will Not'' feel less womanly than regressively adolescent. B–

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Originally posted Apr 01, 2009 Published in issue #1042 Apr 10, 2009 Order article reprints