The Unthanks (full band) © Topher Grills 2024
THE UNTHANKS
ANNOUNCE NEW DOUBLE ALBUM, NEW SINGLE AND EXTENSIVE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2024 UK & IRISH TOUR
NEW SINGLE ‘DEAR COMPANIONS’ IS OUT NOW, FEATURING A GUEST CHOIR OF SIXTY UNTHANKS FANS!
LISTEN HERE
TAKEN FROM THE BAND’S FORTHCOMING DOUBLE ALBUM ‘THE UNTHANKS IN WINTER’ – OUT 29th NOVEMBER
Released today, Dear Companions is the new single from The Unthanks, taken from the band’s forthcoming double album, The Unthanks In Winter, which will be released on 29th November 2024 (via Rabble Rouser Music).
A parting song that instantly feels like it has always been with us, written by Becky Unthank to the old American folk tune of Nettleton, Dear Companions crescendos towards its end with the voices of 60 devotees, recorded on one of the band’s infamous singing residentials.
“Saying goodbye can often be hard,” says Becky Unthank, who wrote the song at home in Northumberland with her partner, the BAFTA award winning animator Ainslie Henderson. “In its bittersweetness we struggle sometimes to find a satisfying way to part, which is why I’ve always loved the function of a parting song.”
Dear Companions is the closing track on the mammoth forthcoming double album, The Unthanks In Winter – a 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, it promises to be a bittersweet hymnal to the winter experience, and a future classic of the Christmas genre.
“This parting song is inspired by our singing weekends, which we dearly love and cherish,” continues Becky. “We are overjoyed that we’ve managed to capture some singing weekenders at the end of this track. In the lyrics, there’s also a reference to our Unthank family camping get-togethers in the garden. Yes, my sister really does make lanterns and yes, my brother really does play the violin!”
The Unthanks have also announced that they will tour this winter across the UK & Ireland, starting in Galway on 26th November. Tickets for the following winter 2024 live dates are on-sale now here
26/11 Galway Roisin Dubh
27/11 Belfast Empire
28/11 Dublin Liberty Hall Theatre
29/11 Cork St Luke’s
01/12 Glasgow City Halls
03/12 Gateshead – The Glasshouse ICM
04/12 Lytham Saint Annes Lowther Pavilion
05/12 Hull City Hall
06/12 Hastings White Rock Theatre
07/12 Worthing Assembly Hall
09/12 Birmingham Town Hall
10/12 Nottingham Albert Hall
11/12 Norwich Epic Studios
13/12 Saffron Walden Saffron Hall
14/12 Harrogate Royal Hall
15/12 Manchester New Century Hall
16/12 Poole – The Lighthouse
17/12 Exmouth Pavilion
18/12 Bodmin St Petroc’s Church
19/12 Bristol Beacon
20/12 Pontardawe Arts Centre
21/12 London Cadogan Hall (Evening Show Sold-Out/Extra Matinee Show On-Sale Now)
22/12 Basingstoke Haymarket
The Unthanks are capable of such beauty that sometimes I can hardly bear to listen to them.” Martin Freeman
“There are few times when you discover a band and they stalk immediately to the heart of everything you love and hold dear.” Maxine Peake
“They run from the very root of folk music to the very tip of the branch.” Elvis Costello
“It’s quite a rare thing now. They’ve really got everything you could want from music. And I’m very fussy.” Robert Wyatt
“Few of their contemporaries, within both folk music and the wider artistic spectrum, have such a keenly-honed ability to locate in a song the emotional essence that can, in just a single phrase or vocal elision, cut one to the quick.” The Independent
“The Unthanks have covered a lot of ground in the past decade and watching them evolve over this period has been truly inspiring.” Phillip Selway (Radiohead)
“The honest and heartfelt way in which they deliver their music is a true inspiration to me.” Martin Hayes
“It hits you in your soul rather than your head. I love them.” Adrian Edmondson
“If there was such a thing still as having a favourite band, like in the old days, I’d say they were my favourite band.” Paul Morley
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