| The Unthanks | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Northumberland, UK |
| Genres | Folk |
| Years active | 2004-present |
| Labels | Rabble Rouser, EMI |
| Website | http://www.the-unthanks.com |
| Members | |
| Rachel Unthank (voice, cello, kalimba, feet) Becky Unthank (voice, autoharp, feet) Niopha Keegan (violin, voice) Adrian McNally (piano, dulcitone, autoharp, marimba, tuned percussion, drums, voice) Chris Price (guitar, bass, ukulele, dulcitone, voice) |
|
| Past members | |
| Belinda O'Hooley (piano, voice)[1][2] Jackie Oates (violin, voice)[1][2] Stef Conner (piano, voice)[1][2] |
|
The Unthanks (until 2009, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset)[1][3] are an English folk group from Northumberland, known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk with other musical genres.[4][5]
Contents |
Originally an all-female band, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset made their debut performance at Towersey Village Festival in August 2004[2] and, on 11 May 2005, launched their debut album Cruel Sister at Holmfirth Folk Festival.[2]Cruel Sister received support from a number of DJs on BBC Radio 2 and was subsequently awarded Folk Album of the Year by MOJO magazine.[6]
Their follow-up album, The Bairns, released on 28 August 2007,[7] was nominated for the Best Album award at the BBC Folk Awards 2008[8] and also nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. The album debuted in the UK Top 200 Albums Chart at number 178 in the week after the Mercury Prize award ceremony.[9] Reviewing The Bairns for BBC Music, Mel Ledgard described it as "an album with a cinematic quality, huge in dramatic atmosphere".[7]
The band were nominated for three further BBC 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.[10]
In 2009 the band became The Unthanks, and their manager Adrian McNally and his childhood friend Chris Price joined the group. Their third album (the first under The Unthanks moniker), Here's the Tender Coming, released on 14 September 2009,[3] was Folk Album of the Year for The Guardian and also for MOJO magazine. [4] Sid Smith, of BBC Music, described it as an "astonishing record", "beautiful”, “haunting”, and “beguiling".[11] For The 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 of Ewan 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."[12]
Their fourth album, Last, was released on 14 March 2011, reaching number 40 in the UK albums chart, and was well received by the critics. 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." [13] Robin Denselow, for The Guardian, described it as "a bold and highly original set".[14] Thomas H Green of The Daily Telegraph said it was "string-laden and luscious but also delicate, wistful and melancholy".[15] Writing in NME, 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".[16] As well as traditional material, the album included a song written by band member Adrian McNally ("Last"), and versions of songs by Jon Redfern ("Give Away Your Heart"), Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan ("No One Knows I'm Gone"), King Crimson ("Starless")[17] and Alex 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's Union Chapel on 8 and 9 December 2010 consisting entirely of material written by Robert Wyatt and by Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons.[18] The concerts were recorded, and The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons, a live album based on these recordings, was released on 28 November 2011 to coincide with a UK tour.[19]In a four-starred review, The Guardian called the album "A triumphant excursion".[20]
In February 2011 The Unthanks performed live, at Newcastle upon Tyne’s Tyneside Cinema, a soundtrack they had composed to accompany the showing of a film about the history of shipbuilding on the Tyne, Wear and Tees.[21][22][23]
In July 2011, starting with concerts at Durham Cathedral and at London's Barbican Hall, they began a UK tour with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, performing new brass arrangements of songs from all four Unthanks albums, as well as new material.[24]
Rachel and Becky Unthank are sisters, born seven and a half years apart, who grew up in Ryton, Tyne and Wear. Rachel graduated from Glasgow University and Becky went to Manchester Metropolitan University. Their father, George Unthank, is a well-known local Northumberland folk singer in a group called the Keelers, named after the boatmen who sailed the Tyne.[22][25][26][27]
Rachel is married to group member Adrian McNally who is also the group's manager, musical arranger and producer.[21][22] They have a son, George, born in 2011.[24]
| Album | Release date |
|---|---|
| Cruel Sister | 11 May 2005 |
| The Bairns | 28 August 2007 |
| Here's the Tender Coming | 14 September 2009 |
| Last | 14 March 2011 |
| The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons | 28 November 2011 |
| EP | Release date |
|---|---|
| "Lucky Gilchrist" (Single edit) (Adrian McNally)[1] /
"Tar Barrel in Dale" (Live) (George Unthank)[27] / "Sexy Sadie" (Lennon and McCartney) |
30 November 2009 |
| Single | Release date |
|---|---|
| "Last" (Radio edit) (Adrian McNally) | 13 June 2011 |