It was the solstice of the year, a grey wet day in a deep and dark December, but with Sloane Square and the surrounds of Cadogan Hall lit by Christmas lights and more than bustling with throngs of eager – or at least impelled – shoppers hurrying about, it was something of a relief to instead be heading towards one of the premiere Folk Christmas Shows of the year. There are a large number of these nowadays – but this one is somewhat unusual in that, with The Unthanks, there is less of a focus on the cheery renditions of well known carols, and much less of the feel good sing-a-long one might encounter with, say, The Albion Christmas Band.
This was the ‘In Winter‘ tour, so naturally it was showcasing the new double vinyl album of the same name – which also conveniently broke the concert down into two satisfying sets. The Unthanks had been expanded up to an eight piece band for this purpose – which allowed for drums and saxophone alongside the various strings and guitar. ‘In Winter‘ is not your typical folkie Christmas release, although the festival gets several mentions either directly in song or through instrumentals that reshape familiar carols. The whole concept is more aimed at conveying all the feelings of the Winter months and the hygge image of cozy fires and hot chocolate is put to one side – this is the bleak winter: ice and snow, too little coal for the fire and often a dark sense of unease underlying the music. This is, though, balanced with uplifting celebrations of the folky side of the year with Mummers plays and Bonfire rituals brightening the otherwise endless darkness. It fits with the band’s admitted image of being melancholic by nature, and the whole musical soundscape also links into their self-coined status as purveyors of Art Folk.
Except when they are clog dancing, The Unthank sisters tend to a fairly static musical performance – a little swaying, but mostly conveying musical connections through arm and hand gestures. Becky Unthank’s right hand chopping motion was somehow very appropriate on the lovely ‘Oh Christmas Tree’, almost as if the song was a graceful thank you to the tree prior to its felling. It also provoked a musing from Rachel Unthank as to whether it would be possible to walk off with the rather impressive tree gracing the rear of the stage at Cadogan Hall. Like Christmas cracker jokes, some of the other humorous asides from the stage fell a little flatter, but let’s just skirt around that.
Following the structure of the album there were a number of piano interpretations by Adrian McNally which blend with captured soundscapes to provide links between the more directly engaging songs. McNally was also responsible for reusing the melody of ‘O Holy Night’ on the Covid inspired appreciation for the nursing staff of the NHS, although he explains that ‘Nurse Emmanuel‘ was co-written with poet Vanessa Lampert who did a better job on the lyrics than he’d achieved himself. She’s noted as being in the audience but the writer of ‘Tar barrel in Dale‘, sung with exquisitely harmonised vocals, isn’t – the Unthanks’ sisters father was reported as being “up North doing something folkie.” It’s a song that really raises the hairs on the back of the neck – celebrating as it does a traditional fire ceremony from Allendale and also commemorating a family tradition of being there to see the sight. There’s a similar steeped in the history feel to the song ‘Greatham‘ which reworks the calling on song of a Mummers Play. It adds a depth of feeling knowing that it was a tradition in part revived by George Unthank in the mid-sixties. With a powerful, and chilling ‘The Snow It Melts The Soonest‘ and the encore chance of a little chorus singing on ‘Dear Companions‘ the second set was that much nearer to that Christmas-vibe but it gained from the contrast of the eerie renditions of the first set of songs such as ‘Gower Wassail‘ which felt – in a good way – like a spectral parade rather than a boisterous pagan invocation for a good crop in the next year. No-one is ever going to get marked down for flirting with a Wicker Man feel. Adrian McNally perhaps summed up the evening best by noting that we may not have heard this or that song that we already love, but the band’s aim is ever to bring something new. And in that they more than succeeded.
I was at the evening show – felt like the perfect end to the year’s gig going.