Gillian Welch, David Rawlings – Woodland (Acony) 13th floor
Forest is the name of the studio Gillian Welch And David Rawlings has been in operation for 20 years. It has been hit by tornadoes twice, but is still standing.
The building and studio date back to the 1960s and housed classic albums, including Neil Young’S There comes a time.
Not coincidentally, Neil’s 1978 album is an apt comparison for this latest collection of new material from Welch and Rawlings… their first since 2017.
Not surprisingly, there are no radical differences between what the two have done over the past 30 years of making music together, either as a duo or individually.
You have to say something about consistency and they managed to do that without ever sounding tired or boring.
The 10 tracks on this album were beautifully recorded by Rawlings, who took a subtle approach to mixing… a pedal steel guitar here, a violin there, a bit of harmonica elsewhere.
The focus is clearly on the songs and the performances.
These two’s songwriting has never been better…that tornado must have stirred something in their creative souls…and their voices now sound almost identical. When they sing close harmonies, they sound more like siblings than partners.
I read elsewhere that production was “lavish.”
Yes, strings appear from time to time … listen What we had And Hashtag…the strings are there, but the sound remains sparse and gives the singing the space it deserves.
Lyrically, there is much to admire and often they hit a nerve that resonates with pretty much everyone. You can feel and understand how they recovered after the tornado by listening to What we had…”My whole world is changing, I don’t know where I’m going“.
And they manage to recall earlier popular songs without imitating them. Law enforcement finds Sylvie, who brings some water, The bells and the birds Mirror David Crosby’s Guinevere And Northland let me think of Dylan’s Girl and Youngs Four strong winds.
To single out one highlight would be an insult to the rest of the tracks. This album deserves your full attention and will repay you with a depth of feeling and warmth of spirit that we rarely find these days.
Gillian Welch And David Rawlings…not to be taken for granted.
Marty Duda
Woodland is available digitally Here
Woodland available for pre-order on vinyl and CD Here and available on 15 November.
