A Woman a Man Walked By

A Woman a Man Walked By is the second collaborative studio album by the English alternative rock musicians PJ Harvey and John Parish, released on 27 March 2009 by Island Records.

A Woman a Man Walked By
Studio album by PJ Harvey and John Parish
Released	27 March 2009 (2009-03-27)
Recorded	January 2006 – September 2008
Studio	Toybox Studios and Honorsound in Bristol, United Kingdom and Hothead Studios in New York City, United States
Genre	Alternative rock experimental rock
Length	38:07
Label	Island
Producer	Flood John Parish PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey and John Parish chronology
Dance Hall at Louse Point (1996) A Woman a Man Walked By (2009)
PJ Harvey chronology
White Chalk (2007) A Woman a Man Walked By (2009) Let England Shake (2011)
Singles from A Woman a Man Walked By
"Black Hearted Love" Released: 13 April 2009

Background

It is the second collaboration between Harvey and Parish, following 1996's Dance Hall at Louse Point. The album was recorded in Bristol and Dorset, and mixed by Flood. This album is made up of ten new songs. All the music is written by Parish, who also plays most of the instruments. The vocals and all lyrics are by Harvey. The first single from the album is "Black Hearted Love" which is described as having 'anthemic grunge-pop guitars.'

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Mojo	[2]
musicOMH	[3]
NME	(8/10)[4]
Pitchfork Media	(6.2/10)[5]
Q	[2]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Robert Christgau	(A−)[7]
Slant Magazine	[8]
The Observer	[9]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".^[10]

The album was described by journalist John Harris, as "...mischievous, deadly serious, elegant and poetic, and possessed of a brutal power – it is doubtful that you will hear a record as brimming with creative brio and musical invention this year..."^[11] In a track by track synopsis on their website, The Fly described the album as "a body of folk tales, funeral songs and trapped, tangled love songs... brilliant."^[12]

Track list

All songs written by PJ Harvey and John Parish.

1. "Black Hearted Love" – 4:40
2. "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen" – 3:35
3. "Leaving California" – 3:56
4. "The Chair" – 2:29
5. "April" – 4:41
6. "A Woman a Man Walked By/The Crow Knows Where All the Little Children Go" – 4:47
7. "The Soldier" – 3:55
8. "Pig Will Not" – 3:50
9. "Passionless, Pointless" – 4:19
10. "Cracks in the Canvas" – 1:54

Personnel

• Polly Jean Harvey – lyrics, vocals
• John Parish – guitars, drums, organ, ukulele, banjo

Additional musicians

• Eric Drew Feldman – bass guitar on "Black Hearted Love," keyboard on "April"
• Carla Azar – drums on "Black Hearted Love" and "April"
• Giovanni Ferrario – guitar on "Black Hearted Love," bass guitar on "April"
• Jean-Marc Butty – drums (live shows in support of A Woman a Man Walked By)

Chart positions

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[13]	25
Austrian Ö3 Top 40[14]	55
Belgian Albums Chart (Vl)[15]	11
Belgian Albums Chart (Wa)[16]	27
Danish Albums Chart[17]	28
Dutch MegaCharts Top 100[18]	46
French SNEP Albums Chart[19]	13
German Albums Chart[20]	62
Irish Albums Chart[21]	39
Italian FIMI Albums Chart[22]	45
Norwegian Albums Chart[23]	13
Spanish Albums Chart[24]	61
Swiss Hitparade Albums Chart[25]	24
UK Albums Chart[26]	25
US Billboard 200[27]	80