M. Ward is back in April with his first solo album in three years, A Wasteland Companion. As Pitchfork reports, the album spans 12 tracks and features contributions the She in She & Him, Zooey Deschanel, as well as his Monster of Folk collaborator Mike Mogis, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, among others.

In support of the release, Ward will hit the road this spring, splitting bills with Feist, the recently reunited fIREHOSE and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo. Check out the album’s tracklist and Ward’s tour schedule below.

A Wasteland Companion is out April 10th via Merge.

A Wasteland Companion Tracklist:
01. Clean Slate (For Alex & El Goodo)
02. Primitive Girl
03. Me and My Shadow
04. Sweetheart
05. I Get Ideas
06. The First Time I Ran Away
07. A Wasteland Companion
08. Watch the Show
09. There’s a Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

M. Ward Tour Dates:
03/21 – Paris, FR @ Le Zenith ^
03/22 – Lyon, FR @ Transbordeur ^
03/23 – Lille, FR @ Theatre Sebastopol ^
03/25 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall ^
03/26 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo ^
03/27 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall ^
04/11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore #
04/12 – Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom $
04/13 – Indio, CA @ Coachela Music Festival
04/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom $
04/18 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Orpheum $
04/20 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
05/05 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre *
05/06 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
05/07 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place *
05/08 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
05/11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
05/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
05/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club *
05/15 – Durham, NC @ Page Auditorium *
05/16 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
05/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
05/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre *
05/24 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

^ = w/ Feist
# = w/ Jonathan Richman
$ = w/ fIREHOSE
* = w/ Lee Ranaldo

“We played most of the music live,” Harvey told NME of the album. “I didn’t set down any rules. For some reason, we were all in a very good place, with a lot of energy, intensity and vitality in us at that time. It was a really enjoyable experience, and I think the record’s ended up full of energy and quite an uplifting experience because of it.”

In a separate interview with the BBC earlier this year, Harvey revealed she had recorded much of the album on an autoharp. “I’ve got three autoharps and I’ve had them tuned in slightly different chords, uh, fixtures here, so that they’re slightly out of the normal line of what an autoharp would sound like. There’s a lot more minor keys, a lot of darker keys.”

“The next body of work [Let England Shake], it’s an example of the whole album, really, in that i was looking outwards a lot more. I think a lot of my work has often been about the interior, the emotional, what happens inside oneself. This time I’ve just been looking out, so it’s not only to do with taking a look at England, but taking a look at the world and what’s happening in the current day world affairs. But always trying to come from the human point of view because I don’t feel qualified to sing from a political standpoint.”

According to Harvey’s website, the album will be supported by a run of sold out live shows early next year, with dates in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and London. 2011 will also see Harvey return to the festival-stage, with more details to be announced. While we wait for more details, you can watch a performance of the album’s title track from earlier this year.

Update: Per TwentyFourBit, you can now see the album’s artwork above and tracklist below.

Let England Shake Tracklist:
01. Let England Shake
02. The Last Living Rose
03. The Glorious Land
04. The Words That Maketh Murder
05. All And Everyone
06. On Battleship Hill
07. England
08. In The Dark Places
09. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour Of The Earth

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
02/18 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/21 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/22 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/24 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
02/27 – London, UK @ Troxy
02/28 – London, UK @ Troxy

The four-date trek is scheduled to hit Brussels, Berlin and Paris, before coming to a close at Troxy in London on February 27th. Tickets for all shows are scheduled to go on sale this Friday, October 15th at 9AM.

For the tour, Harvey will be joined on by frequent collaborator John Parish, featured on the 2009 release, A Woman A Man Walked By. Mick Harvey, a former member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and Jean-Marc Butty will round out the ensemble. This will the the first outing for Harvey and Parish since their last dates to support their collaboration in 2009.

For more information on how to purchase tickets, visit the official PJ Harvey site.

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
02/18 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/21 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/24 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
02/27 – London, UK @ Troxy

But in the case of PJ Harvey and John Parrish, 10 dates is definitely an improvement as to what was offered earlier this spring. Come early June, the collaborative duo will return to the U.S. for a 10 date tour in support of their recently released album, A Woman a Man Walked By. As was the case for their stateside visit, which included a performance at last month’s South by Southwest and one-offs in both Los Angeles and New York, Harvey and Parrish will also look to incorporate material from their previous collaboration, Dance Hall At Louse Point, and will be backed the trio of Eric Drew Feldman, Giovanni Ferrario and Jean Marc Butty.

So, basically, if you missed out on the fun earlier this year, here’s your chance to finally catch up.

PJ Harvey & John Parrish 2009 Tour Dates:
04/20 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
04/21 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
04/22 – Birmingham, UK @ Town Hall
04/24 – Manchester, UK @ Ritz
04/26 – Edinburgh, UK @ Queens Hall
05/02 – Porto, PR @ Casa Da Musica
05/04 – Milan, IT @ Auditorium
05/06 – Stuttgart, DE @ Theaterhaus
05/07 – Berlin, DE @ Passionskirche
05/09 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen
05/10 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
05/11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
05/13 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
05/14 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
05/17 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
05/18 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
06/02 – Atlanta, GA @ Centre Stage
06/03 – Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre
06/05 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
06/06 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
06/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
06/09 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
06/12 – Chicago, IL @ Riveria Theatre
06/13 – Alpine Valley, MN @ Weesner Amphitheatre
06/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
06/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
07/25 – Dorset, UK @ Camp Bestival *

* = PJ Harvey solo

What’s a rock darling to do for a follow-up? Collaborate with fellow Brit rocker John Parish on an album and share the billing with him, if you’re Harvey. She wrote the lyrics and performed the vocals, while Parish handled the music. The result was 1996′s Dance Hall at Louse Point, a record that found critics and fans receptive, if not confused. The album was well received by critics but went largely unnoticed by most fans. Not surprising considering the sound of the album, which held onto both artists’ rock past but also veered into something cerebral as the two musicians created their own intimate world without regard for commercial viability. Today, most fans consider the album an overlooked gem that deserves a second chance.

Thirteen years later it seems they might get their wish. Harvey’s responsible for one of the most lauded catalogs of the last two decades, with each release being different from her others. Now established as someone to watch, she’s once again collaborated with Parish for A Woman A Man Walked By, with songwriting and performance responsibilities once again divided between the two artists.

The lead single and opening track, “Black Hearted Love”, is the most conventional alternative rock tune on the album, but no weaker for it. If anything it makes the rest of the album easier to absorb because you’re sucked in with Parish’s smooth guitar riff and Harvey’s black widow voice. Harvey teases us, “And you are my black hearted love / In the rain in the evening, I will come again” before finally launching into the simple chorus nearly three minutes into the song. She announces, “I’d like to take you / I’d like to take you to a place I know / My black hearted” and you sort of want to go with her, even if you’re pretty sure you’ll never come back.

One of the more fascinating aspects of A Man A Woman Walked By is how some tracks sound as if they were plucked from earlier Harvey eras. “Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen” is kindred spirits to To Bring You My Love‘s “C’mon Billy” and the rickety piano on “Leaving California” and “The Soldier” fit on 2007′s White Chalk. The album doesn’t sound like a collection of Harvey’s b-sides by any means, but it does unearth an interesting aspect of the collaboration, which is that Parish appears to be a silent partner in the project. Yet, he might be the most influential component. With Harvey taking center stage with her lyrics and vocal theatrics, you can’t help but notice that the songs don’t sound all that different than something she could do on her own. Except she’d never release an album this disparate. Her releases are cohesive affairs.

Parish brings out the experimental side in her. Listen to the mini epic “A Woman A Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go”, which begins with tinny strumming until Harvey’s doubled vocals reel, “He spit in my face and laughed / That woman, man / I want his fucking ass / I want his fucking ass / I want his fucking ass / I want your fucking ass” and tribal drums kick in. Then at the song’s midpoint a tickling piano rises above the mix and a warning siren of guitars guides the rest of the instrumental portion of the track. This latter half belongs in a David Lynch film, or your nightmares.

Another example of two artists unleashed is “Pig Will Not”, which is what Diamanda Galas would sound like if she’d come down to this earth for a while. For the first minute, Harvey screams, “I will not / I will not / I will not” until she barks and transitions into a Milton-esque tale of fallen angels and love. The last time you heard her this demonic was on Dance Hall at Louse Point, when she scared the bejeesus out of listeners on “Taut”, a disturbing narrative about religion clashing with sexuality and burgeoning hormones set against Parish’s frantic guitar. Like that track, “Pig Will Not” is as much about the story as it is about making you cringe at the delivery.

A Woman A Man Walked By is an album between and for Harvey and Parish. It sounds like two artists allowing each other to do what they do best and indulge in the moment. Between the dearth of commercial tracks and scattershot sounds, I suspect the album would exist as it is even without any promise of it being released to the public, they’re that committed to the collaboration. That listeners get to hear these dark, confusing songs is a happy incident. With Harvey a bigger name than she once was, here’s hoping more people take notice of this release than their previous effort and that maybe that one gets rediscovered.

The stint, which consists of an appearance at this year’s South by Southwest, along with stops in both Los Angeles and New York, will feature the duo, backed by a three-piece band, performing selections from both next month’s release (March 30th)  and its 1996 collaboration, Dance Hall at Louse Point.

Of course, as mentioned, both these U.S. tour dates and the ones in Europe that follow will be used to support the 10-track endeavor. Speaking of which, Harvey and Parrish recently sat down with The Quietus to offer some insight behind the project:

Why did you decide it was time to make another joint record?

Polly: We’d talked about it and we knew we would for many years. I think in the back of our minds we were always going to continue this writing journey together. John is usually producing my work or playing on my work. We’re always in touch with each because we’re good friends and constantly talking about each others’ work anyway so it seemed pretty natural that we would do another album together. And then I think it was in 2005, I was just finishing writing the songs that would become ‘White Chalk’ and I just felt this huge urge – that the time was right – to work with John again. [puts on luvvie voice] I was at that stage in my creative cycle where I really, really needed that inspiration of working with him closely again. And also I needed to dive into a musical landscape that wasn’t natural to me. I wanted to be thrown into something that was going to force me to have to come up with new ideas. And I knew from the past and working with John’s music does that because it’s something I could never produce myself and so in terms of singing and lyric writing I go into areas that I would never go into left to my own devices.

A Woman a Man Walked By Tracklist:
01. Black Hearted Love
02. Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen
03. Leaving California
04. The Chair
05. April
06. A Woman a Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All the Little Children Go
07. The Soldier
08. Pig Will Not
09. Passionless, Pointless
10. Cracks in the Canvas

PJ Harvey & John Parrish 2009 Tour Dates:
03/21 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/23 – Los Angeles, LA @ El Rey Theatre
03/26 – New York, NY @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza
04/15 – Brighton, UK @ Corn Exchange
04/16 – Oxford, UK @ Brookes University
04/18 – Bristol, UK @ Anson Rooms
04/20 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
04/21 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
04/22 – Birmingham, UK @ Town Hall
04/24 – Manchester, UK @ Ritz
04/26 – Edinburgh, UK @ Queens Hall
05/02 – Porto, PR @ Casa Da Musica
05/04 – Milan, IT @ Auditorium
05/06 – Stuttgart, DE @ Theaterhaus
05/07 – Berlin, DE @ Passionskirche
05/09 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen
05/10 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
05/11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
05/13 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
05/14 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
05/17 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
05/18 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
07/24-26 – Dorset, UK @ Camp Bestival *

* = PJ Harvey only