Gillian Welch and songwriting partner David Rawlings have developed and refined their own blend of country, folk, and bluegrass on this release. It’s the most austere and personal of her three albums to date and the one with the least instrumental variety. Most of the songs are performed on two acoustic guitars with Rawlings adding his melodic guitar lines and sublime close harmony singing (he also produced the album). The songs are complex and lyrically rich and deal with themes that revolve around the nature of time and its effect on subjects ranging from love to art as in the dreamy Roy Orbinson-esque “Dear Someone,” the front porch bluegrass of “My First Lover” and “Red Clay Halo,” and the epic bookends of “Revelator” and the 14-minute “I Dream a Highway.” Filled with subtle power and grace, Time - The Revelator is a deeply moving work and arguably the duo’s definitive artistic statement.