THE UNTHANKS

In Winter (Rabble Rouser)

With a band who make music of such incredible perfection, it’s hard not to give everything they do five stars. For the Northumbrian folk singing sisters The Unthanks, In Winter has been a Christmas present 15 years in the making.

As always, their singing and choice of material is sublime. A perfect balance between secular and sacred is struck, with material from The Snow It Melts The Soonest to The Cherry Tree Carol treated with equal sensitivity. There are also a few Unthanks originals in the mix on In Winter the most moving of which is the closer Dear Companions – recorded during one of the band’s legendary singalong sessions.

Adrian McNally’s arrangements are as high calibre as ever and really come alive when the additional instrumentalists, most notably lyrical saxophonist Fay MacCalman, are involved. It’s truly beautiful music, full of winter chill and familial warmth. From a Welsh perspective, it’s great to hear Gower Wassail again, too – but something to lift the mood above the serene could have tied this double album up with a bow.

words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES