Live at the Forum Theatre, Malvern
Saturday 28 April
The Unthanks are not a barrel of laughs.
There were very few upbeat songs in their set but their good-natured rapport with
the audience lightened the mood enough to be able to carry the genial people of
Malvern with them through an evening of slightly unsettling folk music. This
was supposed to be ‘an intimate evening with The Unthanks, with support from Jonny
Kearney and Lucy Farrell' but the Forum Theatre, unexpectedly packed, could
hardly be called intimate. It's a grand old theatre that reminds me of Shrewsbury
Music Hall where, as a teenager, I saw the likes of Ralph McTell, Prelude and Alan
Hull. The Unthanks’ music is more disconcerting. Unusually for folk, their
sound is dominated not by a guitar accompaniment but by the minimalist piano of
producer and arranger Adrian McNally. Adrian's piano suits the often austere
soundscapes of the Northumberland-inspired songs performed by the ethereal voices of Rachel and Becky Unthank,
whose occasional bursts of enthusiastic clog-dancing provided some unexpected moments
of exuberance.
The band is an extended family and, when Jonny
and Lucy were not on stage with The Unthanks, they appear to have been minding
Rachel and Adrian’s baby backstage. Rather than the traditional structure of
support act/break/headline act, all the musicians took turns to pop on and off
stage in the second half, in various combinations, which gave the impression of
an old-time variety show (and no doubt facilitated childminding
responsibilities.) The audience appeared to enjoy the evening, although I don't
imagine all of them were folk music enthusiasts and certainly not all fans of
this peculiarly stark and fractured folk. But Rachel and Becky's voices are
winningly beautiful and they can be forgiven for sticking with what they do
best -- an uncompromising and unapologetic music, inextricably attached to its
north eastern roots.
