The Unthanks have certainly been productive of late (in more ways than one – read on), but before we launch into current news, I wanted to share this video from 2014 which has just surfaced via Lau: The Unthanks and The Voice Squad performing ‘I Am Stretched On Your Grave’ which was filmed at Lau-Land (Sage Gateshead) back in 2014. This unaccompanied performance seemed very apt considering their upcoming Spring Tour as a vocal trio.
The Unthanks we always wanted to get involved, we are close to them professionally and we’re all good pals, we were all keen to do something really special, and we asked them who they would like to collaborate with. They came to us with the concept of Martin [Hayes] and Dennis [Cahill] and The Voice Squad, all such top quality artists, of course that excites us very much. Collaboration has always been a big part of Lau’s musical life and the chance to extend that and facilitate collaboration between others is like magic for us. Martin Green of Lau talking to Folk Radio UK
There is plenty afoot in the Lau camp as we reported yesterday and likewise, The Unthanks have plenty going on both musically and otherwise: Both Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan gave birth in September, each to a healthy boy.
Emily Bronte Song Cycle
On the musical front, The Unthanks are to play their new Emily Bronte Song Cycle for the first time in front of a live audience on Friday 21 December at Victoria Hall, Leeds. Tickets here.
A North East warm-up show will also take place the evening before at Matfen Hall in Northumberland on Dec 20th. Tickets here.
Commissioned by the Brontë Society to mark Emily Bronte’s 200th Birthday, Yorkshire born Unthank’s pianist and composer Adrian McNally has turned a selection of her poems into song, performed with bandmates Rachel and Becky Unthank.
McNally created the songs using Emily Bronte’s piano which is still housed in the Parsonage Museum in Haworth where she lived and worked. Find out more here.
New Release: Lines
Lines is a trilogy of records inspired by poetry which is set for public release in February 2019. For those that can’t wait that long the good news is that the album can be pre-ordered via their website here.
They have recently shared a couple of tracks from the album:
Roland And Vera (feat. Sam Lee): The song is adapted from letters between frontline soldier Roland Leighton and Vera Brittain, an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, and pacifist. By the time Vera received the letter, Roland had died at the front of a gunshot wound, aged 20. Her reply is therefore written knowing that her fiancé was dead.
Originally conceived by Sam Lee, Nico Brown, Cosmo Sheldrake and Gwendolen Chatfield in development work for A Time And A Place, before being arranged by Adrian McNally.
War Film: “a heart-wrenching poem by Teresa Hooley, turned into song by Adrian McNally and sung by Rachel Unthank, that speak against war and could apply to any side of a conflict and to any time.”
The band also shared news of an unaccompanied singing tour featuring Rachel and Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan:
Spring Tour Announcement: Unaccompanied, As We Are
Where does a band go, after musical adventures that culminate in orchestral performances? Back to the beginning of course! Rachel and Becky Unthank grew up singing songs without accompaniment, in weaving, unschooled vocal harmony. The Unthanks move on from their recent symphonic explorations by going back to what they know and do best – singing in unaccompanied harmony – joined on this tour by Unthanks member Niopha Keegan to make a vocal trio. The three have already established a band within a band in The Unthanks, with signature pieces like Magpie, recently brought to wider attention by Mackenzie Crook’s beautifully poignant series, The Detectorists. On this tour, they fully explore their vocal combinations, with brand new material and arrangements, alongside more familiar Unthanks material.
Support from Tim Dalling. Except for York, Halifax, Bristol, London where support will be Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes.
APRIL
20 Alphabetti Theatre Newcastle upon Tyne
23 Pocklington Arts Centre nr York
24 Square Chapel, Halifax
25 St Paul’s Church, Birmingham
26 Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne Minster
27 St. George’s Church, Brighton
28 Folkestone Quarterhouse, Folkestone
29 Epsom Playhouse, Epsom
30 Tramshed, Cardiff
MAY
1 St George’s, Bristol
2 Union Chapel, London
8 Epstein Theatre, Liverpool
9 The Platform, Morecambe
10 Paisley Arts Centre, Paisley
11 Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh
14 The Assembly, Royal Leamington Spa
15 Open, Norwich
16 The Stables, Milton Keynes
17 Palace Theatre, Newark
18 The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
19 Victoria Hall, Settle
23 Left Bank, Leeds
24 Ushaw College, Durham
26 Gosforth Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
More details and ticket links here http://www.the-unthanks.com/