“A Woman A Man Walked By” arrives just a year and a half after alt.lioness PJ Harvey’s equally difficult and brilliant “White Chalk”. That alone makes it notable, since the last time she released albums in such quick succession was the mid-’90s, around the same time of her last songwriting collaboration with John Parish. This second disc is another album of raging, naked directness. Even the quieter “Leaving California” reveals a surprising amount of mischief, invoking some of “White Chalk”’s mist and gloom in a kiss-off to the Golden State.
by Mark Emge
