Folk group The Unthanks make a welcome return

Date Published: 24-Jan-2013

English folk group, the Unthanks make a welcome return to Róisín Dubh on Sunday, February 24.

Their unique approach to storytelling involves using a kaleidoscope of unlikely instruments and spanning a bridge between past and present. It’s hard to conceive how music could sound so traditional and adventurous at once.

While their three albums to date have received much acclaim, the Mercury Music Prize nominated Tyneside sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank have garnered most praise for their live performances. Stories of love, loss, birth, death, brawls and booze make for a rollercoaster ride through the human condition.

Rachel and Becky’s folk-club singing influences are set against otherworldly musical pictures, arranged by a band who draw inspiration from artists varying from Steve Reich to Miles Davis, Martin Hayes to Robert Wyatt, Portishead to Sufjan Stevens.

The Unthanks have fans as disparate as members of Radiohead and Portishead, Nick Hornby, Elvis Costello, Robert Wyatt, Ewan McGregor, Ryan Adams, Paul Morley, Ben Folds, Rosanne Cash and Dawn French

They have been described as “supernaturally ancient and defiantly modern, as coldly desolate as achingly intimate”. For their Galway show will play music from their new album, as well as from their previous records.

This gig is not just for committed folkies – anyone with a love for heartfelt, well-played and moving music should check them out.

Doors 9pm, tickets €20/€18.