One of the most innovative – and lauded – British folk acts of their generation, Rachel and Becky Unthank of The Unthanks play their first Cardiff gig for several years as part of the Proms series at St David’s Hall. Rhonda Lee Reali spoke to Becky ahead of both that and an album, due in autumn.
Sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank, composer/producer Adrian McNally, Niopha Keegan and Chris Price (all singers and musicians) are the core of this band from northeast England. They’re touring in support of upcoming album Sorrows Away – their first, full non-project-based record since 2015’s Mount The Air. Appearing in Cardiff as an 11-piece ensemble, The Unthanks are not to be missed.
What did you discover about yourself from being in COVID-era lockdown?
It just cements something that I’ve always felt, which is to have a relationship with somebody, whether it’s a community of people, within a family or in a band in a workspace. To have that relationship with people is the essence for me, for us. That’s why we’re here. That’s enough. To be in a room and have a conversation through music. It’s really good for the soul.
Can you tell me about the songs on The Unthanks’ upcoming album, Sorrows Away?
Sure. I’ll start with being absolutely thrilled to be back on tour after such a long time of not touring and not knowing if it was ever going to come back again in the same way, so it’s amazing to be performing again. We’re so happy to be in a room again singing with people. We’re music lovers as well as performers; we’re happy to be out there again. I think that may have fed into the themes of the album when we were searching around for songs for the album.
We have written a couple ourselves, but we always search through records and old books and do lots of listening and searching. We found ourselves reaching for songs that gave us hope and comfort. Although there are still darker tales on the album, it is a more hopeful album: warmer than previous albums, and some of the songs we’ve recorded remind us of times that we’ve spent singing with lots of people.
We run singing weekends upon the Northumberland coast – we’ve been doing that for the last 12 years, bar the last two; they’re going to be coming back, but we sorely missed them! We usually get together and cook for everyone, and do singing workshops – it’s all about community singing together. There’s a song from Orkney, an old traditional song that reminds us of singing on the beach with all of those people. It’s an old tale about this silkie. Do you know a silkie?
Yes.
There are lots of old tales from the Scottish islands and from Scandinavia – it’s a song that’s been in tradition for a long time and that we’ve taught to lots of people. It doesn’t have a happy ending, I have to say! That’s one The Unthanks will be performing in Cardiff. You’ll get a sneak preview of the album with our 11-piece band.
Can you tell me the name?
It’s called The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry. Sule Skerry is a little island. We’ve sung it with our singing weekenders on the beach, and we’ve also did it at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. It’s been in our lives for a long time, but we’ve only just got round to recording it.
I very much enjoy your haunting new single, The Bay Of Fundy. Why did you decide to cover that? The video is beautiful, too. Where was that shot?
It’s a Canadian song – obviously, we couldn’t fly up to Canada for it, but we found a reservoir in Northumberland, where we live. There are lots of beautiful spaces and one about 15 minutes from my house where we filmed that. The song’s another one that we’ve been hearing for years because our dad, George, sings in a group called The Keelers, and they sing unaccompanied in harmony. They sing lots of sea songs and local songs about characters from the northeast, the industry and the sea. Alan Fitzsimmons, who’s in the group, has been singing it for years; we’ve always had our eye on it, and we got round to recording it.
From listening to your songs and from speaking with your sister Rachel, I know that the sea – and other bodies of water – play a large part in your music and your lives. How does that affect you and why?
I think it’s partly being an island and also, because of where we live. The River Tyne, historically, is very connected to the industry of our area and the hardship. There are a lot of songs to do with people going to war from the area and the keelmen in Newcastle, on the banks of the Tyne. There were these flat-bottomed boats called keelboats; keelers were the men who would row the coal up to the big ships because the big ships couldn’t fit up the river. They would row these flat-bottomed boats up the river to the sea, to the bigger boats, so that’s very connected to our industry. That’s where The Keelers get their name from.
Also, the sea is a fascinating unknown world, isn’t it? I think we’re all a bit fascinated with it. It gives me a perspective as well. Day-to-day little worries you have in your life, and then you stand on the shore, and you get a tiny sense, a more tangible sense of what’s out there, I think, for me. Not just me. Snaps me out of that kind of thinking. It makes me wonder what’s out there. Other people in other countries over the seas, what their lives are like.
Were you fascinated by messages in bottles?
Ohh, yeah!
I find the best time at a beach is in the autumn and winter, when there are not loads of people there…
We run singing groups as a band in the winter in December and January, and the Northumberland coast is really beautiful but it’s not very populated, especially then. We do workshops, and then we take people on a big walk on the beach and to the pub.
St David’s Hall is lucky enough to have The Unthanks with your 11-piece ensemble.
Yes! We’re really excited to be playing with a big band again. We’ve just done two tours with them. We’re a five-piece at the moment, but yeah, with the 11-piece it’s nice because we can play pieces like Mount The Air and King Of Rome. We’ve got our wonderful trumpet player Lizzie Jones, who’s from Cardiff. She’s been with us for over 10, 15 years and now lives in Sweden. I think she’ll be looking forward to coming back to her hometown!
The Unthanks play the Folk Prom at St David’s Hall, Cardiff on Mon 11 July. Tickets: £25. Info: here
words RHONDA LEE REALI
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