John Parish has been collaborating with Polly Jean Harvey as a producer and musician for years, even before her brilliant debut Dry.

However, his co-billed discs with her offer him much more input, and this is number two.

As with their previous shared project, Parish wrote all of the music and played most of the instruments on A Woman A Man Walked By, leaving Harvey to the lyrics and vocals.

Harvey has previously said that her collaborations with Parish give her the freedom to break new ground, and we can certainly detect that here as she fits her words into his songs.

She’s certainly taking the chance to stretch vocally, which is thrilling to listen to. Harvey’s delivery is delightfully unhinged – from her snarls on the title track and soprano efforts on ‘Leaving California’, to her wails and pants on ‘Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen’.

Sure, Parish isn’t the songwriter Harvey is, so the material itself isn’t particularly compelling or focused – but this is still a great listen.

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