The Unthanks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Folk |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Rabble Rouser,EMI,Rough Trade |
| Members | Rachel Unthank Becky Unthank Adrian McNally Niopha Keegan Chris Price |
| Past members | (of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset) Belinda O'Hooley Jackie Oates Stef Conner |
| Website | www |
The Unthanks (until 2009 calledRachel Unthank and the Winterset)[1][2] are anEnglish folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularlyNorthumbrian folk music, with other musical genres.[3][nb 1][nb 2] Their debut album,Cruel Sister, wasMojo magazine's Folk Album of the Year in 2005.[4] Of their subsequent albums, ten have received four or five-starred reviews in the British national press. Their albumMount the Air, released in 2015, won in the best album category in the 2016BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[5][6][7] In 2017 they released two albums featuring the songs and poems ofMolly Drake, mother of singer-songwriter and musicianNick Drake.
Lines (Parts One, Two & Three), a trilogy of albums about theHull triple trawler tragedy (1968), theFirst World War and the poems ofEmily Brontë – the principal link between them being their focusing on female perspectives across time – was released in 2019.[8] Their album,Live and Unaccompanied, was released in 2020.[9] Their albumSorrows Away was released in 2022 and received four-starred reviews inThe Observer[10] andThe Scotsman[11] and a five-starred review in theFinancial Times.[12] Their 2024 double album,In Winter, received a four-starred review in theFinancial Times[13] and a five-starred review inThe Times.[14]
Originally anall-female band, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset made their debut performance atHolmfirth Folk Festival on 7 May 2004[15] and launched their debut albumCruel Sister at the same festival venue the following year, on 11 May 2005.Cruel Sister received support from a number of DJs onBBC Radio 2 and was subsequently awarded Folk Album of the Year byMojo magazine.[4]
Their follow-up album,The Bairns, released on 20 August 2007,[16] was nominated for the Best Album award at theBBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2008[17] and was runner-up for the 2008Mercury Prize.[18] The album debuted in theUK Top 200 Albums Chart at number 178 in the week after the Mercury Prize award ceremony.[19] ReviewingThe Bairns forBBC Music, Mel Ledgard described it as "an album with a cinematic quality, huge in dramatic atmosphere".[20] In a four-starred review,Robin Denselow ofThe Guardian nominated it as "one of the folk records of the year".[21]
The band were nominated for three further BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2008 (Best Band, Best Live Act, Horizon Award), and were successful in one category, receiving the Horizon Award at the ceremony in The Brewery, London.[22]
In 2009, the band became the Unthanks, and their managerAdrian McNally and his childhood friend Chris Price[23] joined the group.Here's the Tender Coming, their third album (and the first under the Unthanks moniker), was released on 14 September 2009.[2] It was Folk Album of the Year forThe Guardian and also forMojo magazine.[3]Sid Smith, of BBC Music, described it as an "astonishing record", "beautiful", "haunting", and "beguiling".[24] In a four-starred review forThe Guardian,Colin Irwin said: "This album may not be quite as bleak as The Bairns, and the sound is more sophisticated, but they still sound like nobody else... Tracks build slowly and mysteriously, but all are in service of the song. Their arrangement of the title track − a traditional song about the emotional devastation wrought by press gangs − brilliantly encapsulates the story's fraught desperation. Their version of Nobody Knew She Was There, one ofEwan MacColl's lesser-known songs about his mother, painstakingly paints a similarly dramatic backdrop with more atmospheric brass, and they put their own stamp on the Nic Jones classic, Annachie Gordon."[25]
Their fourth album,Last, was released on 14 March 2011, reaching number 40 in theUK albums chart, and received a five-starred review in theSunday Express and four-starred reviews inThe Guardian andThe Daily Telegraph. In his review for theSunday Express,Martin Townsend proclaimed it "a gorgeously unhurried, utterly mesmerising masterpiece".[26] Thomas H Green ofThe Daily Telegraph said it was "string-laden and luscious but also delicate, wistful and melancholy".[27]Robin Denselow, forThe Guardian, described it as "a bold and highly original set".[21] Sid Smith, for BBC Music, said that "Proving once again that sad songs are very often the best, their fourth album is brimming with material that is as haunting as it is beautiful."[28]
Writing inNME,Anthony Thornton said that the album "proves the mix of Rachel and Becky's voices to be one of the true wonders of 21st-century music".[29] As well as traditional material, the album included a song written by band member McNally ("Last"), and versions of songs by Jon Redfern ("Give Away Your Heart"),Tom Waits andKathleen Brennan ("No One Knows I'm Gone"),King Crimson ("Starless") andAlex Glasgow ("Close the Coalhouse Door").
In a departure from their usual practice of showcasing material from their studio albums, the Unthanks performed two concerts at London'sUnion Chapel on 8 and 9 December 2010 consisting entirely of material written byRobert Wyatt and byAnohni ofAnohni and the Johnsons.[30]The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons, alive album based on recordings of these concerts, was released on 28 November 2011 to coincide with a UK tour. In a four-starred review,The Observer called the album "A triumphant excursion".[31]
In July 2011, starting with concerts atDurham Cathedral and at London'sBarbican Hall, they began a UK tour with theBrighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, performing new brass arrangements of songs from all four Unthanks albums, as well as new material.[32]A live album, based on these concerts, was released in July 2012. In a four-starred review, Robin Denselow ofThe Guardian described the album as the Unthanks' boldest experiment yet.[33] In a five-starred review, Martin Townsend in theDaily Express said it was "easily the band's best and most mature album to date".[34] The album was designated Vol. 2 in the Unthanks' Diversions series and followed on from Vol. 1 (The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons).
Songs from the Shipyards, Vol. 3 in the Unthanks' Diversions series, was released in November 2012. This is a studio-recorded album of songs from a soundtrack, compiled by the Unthanks, which was first performed live in February 2011 atNewcastle upon Tyne'sTyneside Cinema to accompany the showing of a documentary film by Richard Fenwick about the history of shipbuilding on theTyne,Wear andTees.[23][35][36] The album includesElvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" and songs byGraeme Miles, Alex Glasgow,Archie Fisher,John Tams,Peter Bellamy andJez Lowe, plus a centrepiece track, "The Romantic Tees", written by McNally. In a four-starred reviewThe Observer'sNeil Spencer described it as "a stark creation, using little more than piano, violin and voices" but said that its minimalism "lends poignancy to songs and poetry narrating the glory and grime of a vanished era".[37]
Their albumMount the Air, released in February 2015, received five-starred reviews inThe Daily Telegraph andThe Irish Times.The Telegraph's reviewer Helen Brown described the album as "a slow, swirling affair that mixes original material with traditional tales. Underpinned by McNally's cool, fluid piano it's simultaneously ancient and fresh."[38] Joe Breen, writing inThe Irish Times, called it "their most ambitious work" and said that it "places them in the same league as the likes of The Gloaming and the Punch Brothers".[39] In a four-starred review for theFinancial Times, David Honigmann said: "Once a bleak Northumbrian chamber folk outfit, the Unthanks have reinvented themselves on a symphonic scale, as witness the 10-minute title track, ushered in on harps and with an orchestration that recalls Gil Evans's work for Miles Davis."[40] Robin Denselow, in a four-starred review forThe Guardian, said: "This is a return to the gentle melancholia of Last, and while there are fine vocals from the Unthank sisters, the dominant figure is Rachel's husband, Adrian McNally, who plays keyboards and percussion, and produced and wrote much of the music... It's a lush, often exquisite set".[41] Teddy Jamieson, writing in theSunday Herald, said: "The Unthanks return with an album that takes the folk tradition the sisters grew up on and sails it into wilder waters... Folk's storytelling tradition is still very much at the heart of this album. But what thrills here is the sense of scale at play in the music, the unrushed, easeful way the musicians stretch into songs, let them linger without ever overstaying their welcome. That and the earthy humanity of the sisters' voices."[42] However,The Observer'sNeil Spencer bucked the trend, giving the album three stars, and criticising the "ambitious but lumbering orchestration... Two instrumentals eschew the group's strength; more voices please".[43]
Mount the Air was the winner in the best album category in the 2016BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[5][6][7]
In December 2015 the Unthanks releasedMemory Box, a package containing a new CD, a Christmas 7" single (the first Unthanks single to be issued in this format) and other items to commemorate the band's 10th anniversary. The CD,Archive Treasures 2005–2015, which was also released as a stand-alone item, includes exclusive live tracks, demos andouttakes and BBC session tracks.[44][45]
In May 2017 they released two albums,The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake andThe Songs and Poems of Molly Drake: Extras, featuring songs written byMolly Drake, mother ofNick Drake.The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake received a five-starred review inThe Independent.[46]
Lines, a trilogy of albums about the1968 Hull triple trawler tragedy, poetry of theFirst World War and the poems ofEmily Brontë, was pre-released on the band's website in November 2018 and officially released on 22 February 2019. It received a four-starred review inThe Guardian.[47]
Live and Unaccompanied, released in March 2020, is an audio CD of 13 songs, sung by Rachel and Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan without the accompaniment of other members of The Unthanks band. The album was recorded live at various venues in the UK and Ireland in April and May 2019. It was also packaged in a "special film edition" which includes a film,As We Go by musician and animatorAinslie Henderson (who is the partner of band member Becky Unthank), about The Unthanks' life on the road.[9]
The album is designated Vol. 5 in the Unthanks' Diversions series[9] and follows on from Vol. 1 (The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons), released in 2011, Vol. 2 (The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band), released in 2012, Vol. 3 (Songs from the Shipyards), released in 2012 and Vol. 4 (The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake), released in 2017.
Their albumSorrows Away was released on 14 October 2022 and received four-starred reviews inThe Observer[10] andThe Scotsman[48] and a five-starred review in theFinancial Times.[49]
Their 2024 double album,In Winter, received a four-starred review in theFinancial Times[13] and a five-starred review inThe Times.[14]
The Unthanks performed the title track "Oak, Ash and Thorn" on the 2011Oak Ash Thorn, a compilation of songs byRudyard Kipling set to music byPeter Bellamy.[50] The 2012 albumHarbour of Songs, produced by McNally, featured the Unthanks in two songs, "The Ruler" withNick Hornby and "Dream of a Tree in a Spanish Graveyard" with Ian MacMillan.[51] The latter track subsequently appeared on the Unthanks' album of archive recordings,Archive Treasures 2005–2015. In 2015, the Unthanks contributed vocals to the song "A Forest" from the album8:58, a project byPaul Hartnoll.[52]
Becky Unthank and Rachel Unthank are featured onSting's 2013 albumThe Last Ship and onKathryn Tickell's 2016 albumWater of Tyne.[53]
Rachel Unthank provided vocals and cello on Simon Haworth's 1998 albumCoast to Coast[54] and on his 2003 albumTaking Routes.[55] She also played cello on Julian Sutton's 2005 albumMelodeon Crimes.[56] Rachel Unthank and Adrian McNally provided backing vocals onJonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell's 2010EPThe North Farm Sessions and on their 2011 albumKite.[57]
Becky Unthank provided vocals and music boxes onMartin Green's 2014 albumCrows' Bones and co-wrote two of the songs.[58] She also sings on Martin Green's 2016 albumFlit.[59]
On 16 December 2012 (repeated on 4 March 2013), the Unthanks presentedA Very English Winter: The Unthanks, a one-hour television programme onBBC Four.[60] This showed the customs that people celebrated on different days of the later autumn and winter, and ended with information about the famousPancake Race at Olney.
Series 3 of theBBC Four TV seriesDetectorists was inspired by Davey Dodds' song "Magpie", as performed by the Unthanks on their albumMount the Air, and the song was played in the first episode of the series.[61]
On 3 August 2018 the group performed atThe Proms inProm 27: Folk Music around Britain and Ireland.[62][63]
The Unthanks composed and performed the soundtrack for the 2019 BBC production of the television drama seriesWorzel Gummidge,[64] and appeared on screen in the Christmas 2020 episode "Saucy Nancy".[65]
Rachel and Becky Unthank are sisters, born seven and a half years apart, who grew up inRyton, Tyne and Wear. Rachel graduated from theUniversity of Glasgow with a degree in History and Theatre Studies; Becky studied History of Art and Design atManchester Metropolitan University.[66] Their father, George Unthank, is an interior designer[67] and a well-known local Northumberland folk singer in a group called The Keelers, named after the boatmen (keelmen) who sailed the Tyne.[23][66][68][69] Their mother sings in folk choirs.[66]
Rachel was married to, but is now divorced from, group member Adrian McNally.[70] McNally grew up in a mining village nearBarnsley, Yorkshire[71] and as well as being a member of the band is also its manager, musical arranger and producer.[23][35][72] They have two sons: George, born in 2011;[32] and Arthur, born in 2014.[73]
Current
| Former
|
| Album | Release date |
|---|---|
| Cruel Sister | 11 May 2005 |
| The Bairns | 20 August 2007 |
| Album | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Here's the Tender Coming | 14 September 2009 | |
| Last | 14 March 2011 | |
| The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons | 28 November 2011 | Vol. 1 in the Unthanks'Diversions series |
| The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band | 30 July 2012 | Vol. 2 in the Unthanks'Diversions series |
| Songs from the Shipyards | 5 November 2012 | Vol. 3 in the Unthanks'Diversions series |
| Mount the Air | 9 February 2015 | |
| Archive Treasures 2005–2015 | 11 December 2015 | Archive recordings, most of them previously unreleased, spanning the group's then 10-year history of recording |
| The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake andThe Songs and Poems of Molly Drake: Extras[75] | 26 May 2017 | Vol. 4 in the Unthanks'Diversions series |
| Lines | 22 February 2019 | Atrilogy of albums with a poetic theme –Part One: Lillian Bilocca;Part Two: World War One;Part Three: Emily Brontë |
| Live and Unaccompanied | 15 May 2020 | Vol. 5 in the Unthanks'Diversions series. Also available in a "Special film edition" which includes a film byAinslie Henderson,As We Go, about The Unthanks' life on the road |
| Sorrows Away | 14 October 2022 | |
| In Winter | 29 November 2024 | Double album |
| Singles | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| "Lucky Gilchrist" (Single edit) (Adrian McNally)[1]/ "Tar Barrel in Dale" (Live) (George Unthank)[69]/ "Sexy Sadie" (Lennon and McCartney) | 30 November 2009[76] | Although sometimes described as an EP, this was released as a double A-sided single with a bonus track. "Lucky Gilchrist" is a single edit of one of the tracks on the Unthanks'Here's the Tender Coming album. "Tar Barrel in Dale" is taken from a live performance onRadcliffe and Maconie,BBC Radio 2, on 23 December 2008. The "bonus track", "Sexy Sadie", first appeared on theMojocovermount CD album of Beatles covers,MOJO Presents the White Album Recovered. |
| "Last" (Radio edit) (Adrian McNally) | 13 June 2011 | From the albumLast |
| "Mount the Air"(Single version) (Adrian McNally/Traditional/Becky Unthank)/[77] "Died for Love" (Traditional, arranged by Adrian McNally) | 8 December 2014[78] | From the albumMount the Air |
| "Flutter" (Becky Unthank/Adrian McNally) | 16 February 2015 | From the albumMount the Air |
| "Died For Love" (Traditional, arranged by Adrian McNally) | 8 June 2015[79] | From the albumMount the Air |
| "2000 Miles" (Chrissie Hynde) / "Tar Barrel in Dale" (George Unthank)(Christmas single 2015)[80] | 11 December 2015 | From the albumArchive Treasures 2005–2015 |
| "The Bay of Fundy" | 12 April 2022 | From the albumSorrows Away |
| "The Old News" | 22 July 2022 | From the albumSorrows Away |
| "Dear Companions" (Tune: traditional; words by Becky Unthank and Ainslie Henderson) | 21 October 2024 | From the albumIn Winter |
| Album | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oak, Ash, Thorn | 21 February 2011 | The Unthanks perform one track: "Oak, Ash and Thorn" (Traditional, arranged by the Unthanks). |
| Harbour of Songs | June 2012 | The Unthanks perform two tracks: "The Ruler" withNick Hornby and "Dream of a Tree in a Spanish Graveyard" with Ian MacMillan. |
while the gold standard of the seasonal folk album remains the Watersons' 1965 classic Frost and Fire, this elegant evocation of winter's moods is beautiful, atmospheric and profound enough to take its place alongside it.
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