The Unthanks

The Unthanks
Background information
Origin	Northumberland, UK
Genres	Folk
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Rabble Rouser, EMI (UK), Rough Trade (rest of the world)
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]

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset at Germany’s folk, roots and world music festival TFF Rudolstadt, 2009

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]

Career

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

Cruel Sister

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]

The Bairns

Their follow-up album, The Bairns, released on 28 August 2007,^[7] was nominated for the Best Album award at the BBC Radio 2 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 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.^[10]

The Unthanks

Here's the Tender Coming

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]

Last

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").

The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons

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. In a four-starred review, The Observer called the album "A triumphant excursion".^[19]

The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

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.^[20] A live album, based on these concerts, was released in July 2012. In a four-starred review, Robin Denselow of The Guardian described the album as The Unthanks' boldest experiment yet.^[21] Martin Townsend in the Daily Express said it was "easily the band’s best and most mature album to date".^[22] The album is designated Vol. 2 in The Unthanks' Diversions series and follows on from Vol. 1 (The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons).

Songs from the Shipyards

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 at Newcastle upon Tyne’s Tyneside Cinema to accompany the showing of a documentary film by Richard Fenwick about the history of shipbuilding on the Tyne, Wear and Tees.^[23][24][25] The album includes Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" and songs by Graeme Miles, Alex Glasgow, Archie Fisher, John Tams, Peter Bellamy and Jez Lowe, plus a centrepiece track, "The Romantic Tees", written by Adrian McNally. The Observer's Neil 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".^[26]

Other work

On 16 December 2012 the Unthanks presented a television programme on BBC Four called A Very English Winter: The Unthanks. This showed the customs that people celebrated on different days of the later autumn and winter, and ended with information about the famous Pancake Race at Olney.

Rachel and Becky Unthank are featured on Sting’s 2013 album, The Last Ship.^[27]

Personal lives

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.^{[24][28][29][30]}

Rachel is married to group member Adrian McNally who is also the group's manager, musical arranger and producer.^[23][24] They have a son, George, born in 2011.^[20]

Discography

References

External links

• Official website: The Unthanks
• My Space page: The Unthanks
• Wall of Sounds: The Unthanks Residency
• Review of The Bairns (musicOMH.com)