The Harrow & The Harvest
Produced after an eight-year break from recording new songs, this weighty album finds Gillian Welch making up for lost time and then some. Her throaty contralto leaves us breathless on one inspired track after another. Gritty tunes like the down-and-dirty bluegrass number \"Scarlet Town\" feel like portals into another time and place, while sultry ballads like \"Dark Turn of Mind\" combine traditional blues structures with delicate, country-style harmonies, reminding us that Ms. Welch can\'t be categorized—she\'s simply one of a kind.
It’s hard to believe that eight years have passed since Gillian Welch put out an album, though, as an alt-country icon, she’s always been around, even hooking up with The Decemberists earlier on 2011’s The King Is Dead. More surprising is that she waited that long to follow up Soul Journey, a jammy record that…
“Some girls are bright as the morning, some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind” If you’re an artist who plays music…
Check out our album review of Artist's The Harrow & the Harvest on Rolling Stone.com.
The title -- The Harrow & the Harvest, Gillian Welch's first album of new material in eight years -- reflects a creative drought: she and David Rawlings simply weren't writing songs they liked.
Welch and Rawlings reap what they sow with a perfect 10, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
This is a brave and minimalist set of new songs that sound as if they have been around for decades, writes <strong>Robin Denselow</strong>