The Unthanks have been described as “a take on tradition that flips so effortlessly between jazz, classical, ambient and post-rock, it makes any attempt to put a label on them a waste of time”.
Using the traditional music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits makes The Unthanks a unique band, earning them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and international acclaim along the way.
They tell stories that capture children. They make music cutting edge enough to be BBC 6Music regulars. They can equally be found on Radios 2, 3 and 4, reframing history and drawing together the worlds of folk, jazz, orchestral, electronic and rock music. The believability of their
storytelling is admired by some of our best storytellers – Mackenzie Crook, Elvis Costello, Maxine Peake, Nick Hornby, Martin Freeman, Robert Wyatt, Charles Hazelwood, Ben Myers and David Mitchell, to name a few.
At the nucleus of a constantly evolving unit is the traditional upbringing of Tyneside sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank and the arrangements and writing of composer, pianist, producer and Yorkshireman, Adrian McNally. “The Unthanks are capable of such beauty that sometimes I can hardly bear to listen to them.” – Martin Freeman
At this point in their almost 20 years together, it’s easy to imagine that The Unthanks must surely have done a seasonal winter album already, but no! Known for their genre- blurring creativity, they are about to premiere their dream-like winter fantasia – embracing both the dark and the light in the most ritualistic of seasons – moving in and out of focus – like a memory – a hymnal to our shared winter experience. Echoes of winter tunes known throughout the western world, mix with the traditional and the newly written, all passed with great care and love through The Unthanks filter.
The heart warming pathos and glacial majesty present in their music to date makes a winter concert a mouth-watering prospect. The Unthanks are the perfect band to bring us an abstract new work capturing the magic and wonder of the turn of the year; the end and beginning of the circle of life.
The Unthanks in Winter Tour
December 2023
Fr 08 Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
Sa 09 Folkestone Quarterhouse (+matinee)
Su 10 London EartH Theatre
Tu 12 Basingstoke Haymarket Theatre
We 13 Stroud The Sub Rooms
Th 14 Scunthorpe Plowright Theatre
Fr 15 Hexham Abbey (+ matinee)
Sa 16 Edinburgh Usher Hall
Su 17 Liverpool The Tung Auditorium (+ matinee)
Mo 18 Brighton Brighton Dome
Tu 19 Cambridge Corn Exchange
We 20 Manchester Albert Hall
Th 21 Sheffield Octagon
Fr 22 Snape Maltings
Tickets Details at www.the-unthanks.com
Special guest on the tour Katherine Priddy, except Hexham, Edinburgh and Liverpool. Edinburgh support – Kathryn Williams.
No support in Hexham or Liverpool.
“It hits you in your soul rather than your head. I love them.” Adrian Edmondson
For further information please visit: www.the-unthanks.com
Or any of their social media channels: twitter.com/TheUnthanks facebook.com/TheUnthanks instagram.com/theunthanksband
