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der Coming, but that’s not deliberate great songs that speak to people about what I do sound interesting and eclectic
either. They draw no distinction between everyday life. But then why don’t they lis- and original’. I don’t mean to associate us
the sources of their material. “For us music ten to Belle Stewart? It’s a mystery.” with the great man or even mean there’s a
is music, we don’t put it in genres,” says
Rachel: “Sometimes people from the
lot of poor folk music around, I just think
Becky. “If a song speaks to us and we love
folk world think the mainstream want
there’s been a lot of misguided attempts
it, we’ll do it. When I first heard Sea Song I
something nice and polished but I don’t to court the mainstream. The narrative of
didn’t know much about Robert Wyatt
think they always do – they want some- this nu folk thing is, you put all the bits
and if I had I’d have been scared to sing it.
thing real and authentic. The comment we and pieces of authenticity and rootsiness
Same with River Man. I got it free on a CD
always get from people who don’t know and acousticness into one pot and it feels
on the front of Q magazine and I didn’t
about folk music is that they’re surprised more earnest, which is what people seem
have a clue who Nick Drake was.”
we sing in our own accents and our to be craving at the moment. The whole
Having recorded Here’s The Tender response is ‘Well, why wouldn’t we?’. I
Bon Iver thing – that story of him going up
Coming to Adrian McNally’s grand design, think people connect with honesty.”
into the snowy mountains and locking
they had little choice but to assemble a
Becky: “My boyfriend was in a punk himself in a cabin for a week to record his
big band to do it justice on stage. It’s
band when I met him and I tried to get album on primitive equipment… people
quite a sight and – when they hit the
him into folk music and played him all buy into this whole idea.”
mark – it’s quite a sound too, with brass
these things I thought of as crossover stuff
and strings applying different layers and
“Yet the folk world from the other side
and he hated it all. But when I played him
textures. At one point Rachel even pops
of the tracks, i.e. people from a traditional
my dad’s stuff and Belle Stewart and took
up playing drums.
background looking for a bit of main-
him to see The Wilsons he was blown
stream success, is diluted in pop sensibilities
“People probably think we must have away. I almost insulted him by playing him
and a nice bit of reverb and anyone from
loads of money to make an album like the other stuff first.”
the mainstream or left-field music listening
that,” she says, “but we don’t. In fact we
don’t have any more money than we ever
did – less probably. But this is what we
wanted to do and where we wanted to go
with music so we just said ‘let’s do it’. We
N
eedless to say Adrian McNally
can smell the ambition a mile off. It stinks
has plenty of theories, too,
of ambition. It’s not honest, it’s not authen-
about why The Unthanks can
tic and there’s nothing real about it at all.
appear on a big TV show like
That’s where I feel the folk world has totally
Later… and play Here’s The
know it’s not sustainable but while we’ve
missed its opportunity. All the old guys –
Tender Coming, a deeply moving but
got the opportunity to work with these
the Waterson:Carthys and Dick Gaughans
morose and decidedly non-populist song
great musicians we’ll do it.”
of this world – are still hammering it out as
about press gangs littered with North East-
real and raw as ever and the old stuff that’s
The wheels have obviously been oiled ern dialect. Even some of their supporters
by their association with EMI, but while felt they should have gone for something
not supposed to be cool is totally cool as far
distribution and profile have been raised more upbeat and less depressing, but they
as I’m concerned. But a lot of the young
as a result, EMI have no creative input or didn’t get where they are by faint-heart-
acts are too sanitised and clean.”
say in their music at all and only came on edly diluting the message or patronising
With a new album being plotted as we
board after the band had started creating audiences by bowing to popular percep-
speak and other ventures under considera-
their own success. So how did a band play- tions of short attention spans. Their
tion – ranging from an unaccompanied
ing primarily traditional songs in such a appearance on Later… that night had a
album to a special concert performance of
relatively esoteric fashion manage to con- huge impact on a non-folkie audience. Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons
nect so well with the mainstream?
“Robert Wyatt once said of his own
songs – Unthank world is far from sanitised
Becky: “It’s the same reason we like music, ‘It’s not me that’s great, it’s just that
and clean, but right now it’s flying.
the songs in the first place – they’re really 90% of rock music is rubbish and it makes
www.the-unthanks.com F
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