From ambitious orchestral affairs to Maxine Peake directed site-specific theatre performances, The Unthanks have been mighty busy these past few years. As the group’s pianist and composer Adrian McNally recently suggested in his interview with Folk Radio: where should a band turn once they have explored every diversion that has caught their interest along the road? Well, back to the beginning of course. “For Rachel and Becky” he elaborates, “that is singing unaccompanied. It makes it feel really worth all the effort, to have got to the point where we’ve come full circle and have an audience interested in unaccompanied song” which explains the reasoning behind tonight’s set, as Rachel & Becky Unthanks and Niopha Keegan present: ‘As We Are’, an unadorned acapella trio performance. However, unlike the former Northumbrian folk clubs where they cut their teeth, we find them surrounded by the stately verdant green and golden decal of Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre.
It could be said, as well as McNally’s minimalist arrangements, there are two further immediate qualities that have come to define The Unthanks’ music: an earnest knack for storytelling and a remarkable blood harmony. Long before the clustered voices of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (featuring Belinda O’Hooley & Jackie Oates) rallied together, a childhood steeped in traditional song and floor singing sessions allowed them time to hone their raw talents.
As Rachel & Becky’s voices join together on the staggered harmony of Guard Yer Man Weel, it is often hard to differentiate between the pair. There’s a lot to be said for this uncanny blend of familial harmony singing. Whether it is due to the interlocking of accents, years of attunement and paired practice or rather down to genetic similarities in tone; together they are heard as one strain, tight-knit like the double helix braiding of DNA. And with that in mind, vocally, we can consider Keegan part of the immediate family fold too, as opposed to say, a distant cousin, several times removed. Taking lead on the traditional Irish tune I’m Weary From Lying Alone for example, her voice is striking, full of feeling and ebbs with tumbling embellishments, blending seamlessly in with the sisters.
Becky takes lead on transmogrifying Australian bush ballad Griesly Bride, the subtle huskiness of her voice slow-drawn like the contrail of a warm breath caught in Baltic air. Recent feature on Stick In The Wheel’s English Folk Field Recordings Vol. 2, The Sandgate Dandling Song, traces another troubled narrative sung this time by Rachel solo. It’s a magnificent performance, displaying her Tyne roots and aureate, impassioned delivery. Next they ease into a spine tingling rendition of fan favourite Magpie for any Detectorist addicts out there, before Molly Drake’s wistful ode, Poor Mum. Then Becky dons her conductor’s hat, dividing up the audience into sections for the building three-part harmony of Sea Coal.
We Picked Apples In A Graveyard Freshly Mowed is a definite set highlight, written by fellow Geordie and eccentric miserabilist Richard Dawson. The wild visceral imagery of “spiders drowning in a silver spiral. The next door neighbour’s cat is a ribbon of smoke around my ankles” and “I awake to the screech of a fox in the street, carrying your soul in its teeth” feels at odds with some of the evening’s more traditional material, which just goes to show the breadth of their repertoire here, as well as the depth of their poetic expression and interests. The chorus refrain of “hold me, hold me and never let me go” however is a sentiment that could quite easily have been lifted from their songbook – genuine, heartfelt and full of yearning – a glowing example of what The Unthanks do best.
Read our recent interviews with Adrian McNally / Rachel Unthank
The Unthanks recently announced a new tour for October/November, details of which are below.
The Emily Brontë Song Cycle Tour
OCTOBER 2019
16 GATESHEAD The Sage Gateshead (18.30 / 21.00)
17 LINCOLN Drill Hall
19 MANCHESTER Home (Manchester Folk Festival)
20 EDINBURGH The Queens Hall
21 BRIGHTON Dome
23 YORK National Centre for Early Music
24 BRADFORD St George’s Hall
25 OXFORD North Wall Arts Centre
26 SAFFRON WALDEN Saffron Hall (on sale 22nd May)
27 HULL Middleton Hall
28 NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME New Vic Theatre
29 LONDON Hackney Round Chapel
30 LONDON Shoreditch Town Hall
31 WORCESTER Huntingdon Hall
NOVEMBER 2019
01 SHEFFIELD Crucible (on sale June)
03 DUBLIN National Concert Hall
04 CORK Opera House
Special Guests – The Bookshop Band (except Gateshead and Manchester).
Ticket links and details of their current tour can be found here: http://www.the-unthanks.com/tour-dates/