It’s been a long time since Gillian Welch released a solo album, which Welch attributed to simply being unsatisfied with her own songwriting. But The Harrow & The Harvest does not disappoint. With David Rawlings once again at the helm as producer and collaborator, Welch spins out 10 new dusty Applachian folk songs draped in longing and nostalgia. Lacking the ambition of Time (The Revelator) and attempt at more upbeat songs of Soul Journey, Welch’s fifth album showcases her and Rawlings doing what they do best, unadorned by little else than their twin guitars and swaying voices. It’s a typically austere affair for them (note the album title and songs such as the Southern Gothic “Dark Turn of Mind”), but even the more morose tracks have a quiet resilience to them — the banjo-y bluegrass turn of “Hard Times” has Welch declaring, “Hard times ain’t gonna rule my mind no more.”