★★★★★
What does eight years represent if not an overdue anniversary to stop counting, to cease peering longingly into the horizon and 'fess up to whatever you'd hoped to see? That near decade separating Gillian Welch's Soul Journey (2003) from any studio follow-up had rusted over with indifference; once overzealous fans like myself became complacent while the songwriting duo of Welch and David Rawlings considered calling it a day...
- www.cokemachineglow.com
2011-11-10
★★★★★
Eight years after 2003?s Soul Journey, Gillian Welch returns with this fifth album produced by faithful collaborator David Rawlings, who also co-wrote all the songs and lends them his guitar-playing skills. Like fellow O Brother, Where Art Thou? alumni Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris, Welch dwells in a bluegrass style at once distinctively personal and timelessly rooted in tradition...
- hour.ca
2011-10-24
★★★★★
Finding a hot, humid space to stretch out with a whiskey-soda may be a tall order at this time of year, but the languid strains of Gillian Welch's new album "The Harrow And The Harvest" will be relaxing limbs and minds across the world the same way the beating summer sun would. Folk-newcomers and established artists the world over cite Gillian Welch as an influence, and with good reason. Her voice is unmistakable, and her style exudes conviction and honesty without disconcerting earnestness...
- www.undertheradar.co.nz
2011-09-22
★★★★★
Gillian Welch, like latter day country folkie Mindy Smith, is a New York born orphan raised by creative adoptive parents. But you won't find much joy on her albums - especially her fifth, released after an eight-year hiatus. Welch, 42, and singing spouse David Rawlings haven't been idle. They mine melancholia from an open cut reaching deep into their psyche. Welch's entrée Scarlet Town - an Appalachian wanderlust requiem - is a salient signpost to despair borne of abandonment...
- www.beat.com.au
2011-09-19
★★★★★
For her first record in eight years, Gillian Welch and her partner David Rawlings put on a master class in Appalachia-tinged folk music songwriting and performing. These two remarkable musicians have created a ten-song collection worth treasuring. The Harrow & the Harvest is full of marvelous contradictions. It's a spare, deceptively simple record that yields new complexities with every listen...
- www.ink19.com
2011-09-19
★★★★★
Acony You'd think that the parts of the long-awaited fifth Gillian Welch album would add up to a thoroughly old-timey whole. Welch and partner David Rawlings pared things back and didn't use any outside help, and many of the songs have traditional-sounding titles. But, really, The Harrow & The Harvest is Welch and Rawlings' most subtly modern album to date--and not just because they namedrop 1999 in the lyrics...
- www.relix.com
2011-09-19
★★★★★
Judging by the excited postings of fans on her website, this new album by American roots/folk songwriter Gillian Welch, her first since 2003's Soul Journey, has been keenly anticipated. And they have been rewarded by a soulful, dark, lyrical album that touches on familiar themes - temptation, tragedy and loss...
- www.noripcord.com
2011-08-22
★★★★★
When an artist takes a long time to make a record, it's hard to avoid thinking about said periods of time when the album's eventual release comes around. It's hard to think of Chinese Democracy for instance, without recalling the tall tales that surrounded Axl Rose for many a year before the dismal disappointment of the LP was revealed. With Gillian Welch, the gap of eight years since Soul Journey isn't quite as mysterious, but it's still rather maddening...
- drownedinsound.com
2011-07-18
★★★★★
It took Nashville's Gillian Welch and musical partner Dave Rawlings eight years to make their deeply rewarding fifth album, yet it sounds anything but laboured, fussy or obsessed over. That's likely because, after years of unsatisfying results, most of the 10 songs came in a welcome creative burst that began just this past October...
- www.nowtoronto.com
2011-07-18
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