Released 28th June 2011 on Acony

Chart Performance: Gillian Welch’s 2011 return charted across the world and settled on the UK chart at number 25.

What The Critics Said: “At the heart of much Americana is the idea of letting it all hang out. Gillian Welch is not of a mind to let anything hang out, ever; but she and Rawlings have produced a classic of the genre.” Kitty Empire, The Observer

Country and American folk has always struggled to gain traction in the UK, often faced with skeptical critics and a disinterested public, it has become an easy genre to dismiss. Issues of religion, class and politics can be enough to see an entire musically tapestry degraded and dismissed in an instant, but every once in a while an artist bursts through these zealous barriers of taste and forces the intellectual establishment to sit up and take notice.

Gillian Welch was just such an artist, and in the early 2000s alongside her songwriting and touring partner Dave Rawlings she had everyone from the Guardian and the Telegraph to Pitchfork and Uncut utterly transfixed. Then in 2003 after the sensational Soul Journey Welch simple disappeared, as Dave Rawlings took centre stage. Remarkably far from being forgotten, the calls started to ring out from both fans and critics who demanded Welch’s return. She became country’s answer to Daft Punk: a near myth who generate this collective force will to see their return.

The Harrow & The Harvest arrived in June of 2011 and it surpassed all expectations (and trust me they were high). Returning to the bare acoustic/vocal style of here early work it captured everything that made Welch such an arresting presence. Bleak and oppressive but somehow still warm and endearing, Welch subverted the cheery resolution of the stereotypical country/folk aesthetic, creating an album of bitter regrets, soulful laments and quiet resolution. Dave Rawlings’ playing was deft throughout; punctuating and complimenting each tear strained melody and even cutting loose when the opportunity arose (“The Way That It Goes”).

The album is defined by a series weighty moods that painstaking linger, Gillian never feels overbearing or cloying, but she will not let you escape untouched (or unscarred) from these harrowing tales of hollow lives, desolate towns and contorted romances. Welch and Rawlings often joke onstage that their tracks only get more miserable and depressing as they go along, and while it’s hard to raise a smile during The Harrow & The Harvest, it’s equally impossible to avoid being utterly seduced by Americana’s girl with a “Dark Turn Of Mind”. David Hayter