Unthank : Smith announce debut album
Today, two former Mercury Music Prize nominees Rachel Unthank (The Unthanks) and Paul Smith (Maxïmo Park) announce Nowhere And Everywhere, their debut album as Unthank : Smith. Two new songs, ‘The Natural Urge’ and ‘Seven Tears’ are available to hear now. Watch the videos for both songs below.
Pre-order the album here.
With Nowhere And Everywhere Unthank and Smith, both from England’s North East, and foremost talents in their respective fields, set out to collect songs and pen originals that claw at the beating heart of the region. Though Rachel Unthank has been immersed in the folk world from childhood, Paul Smith’s route towards folk began in his teens with a love of Martin Carthy, Karen Dalton, Nick Drake and Bert Jansch, especially their fingerstyle guitar-playing. Echoes of that approach can be heard throughout this album, albeit simplified and merged with a more direct sound akin to US avant-rock acolytes of the ‘60s folk revival like Gastr Del Sol and David Pajo.
The pair’s collaboration for the new project came about somewhat naturally as Rachel explains:
“Paul and I have discovered that we have so much in common. At the core of that is the genuine joy that singing brings us both. We also both have a deep-rooted connection to our native North East, as can be heard in our unfiltered accents, yet this rootedness gives us the appetite for outrospection. I can’t wait to get on the road and start singing together.”
Paul adds: “Rachel's voice is a rare instrument, so to hear our voices blending together for the first time was a big moment for me. It hinted at new possibilities for me as a singer and musician.”
Co-produced by David Brewis of Field Music, Nowhere And Everywhere features Faye MacCalman of emerging avant-jazz group Archipelago on clarinet, and exploratory drums by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy / Alasdair Roberts collaborator Alex Neilson, of Trembling Bells.
While the album includes its share of traditional songs, the first two tracks to emerge are both originals penned by Paul Smith (‘The Natural Urge’) and Rachel Unthank (‘Seven Tears’). ‘The Natural Urge was partly inspired by the bleak, gnarled landscapes depicted by Paul Nash in his role as an official WW1 artist. He comments: “The Natural Urge is, ultimately, an anti-war song, but I tried to write something more atmospheric and less obvious than that might imply. The guitar riff reminded me of a folk melody, and the theme also seemed to fit with the tradition of protest.”
Rachel adds: “I enjoy the brooding atmosphere that builds through The Natural Urge with layered harmonium and guitar, and how the clarinet blends with our voices, making it sound like a haunting third voice.”
Rachel Unthanks’ ‘Seven Tears’ injects some local mythology into proceedings, as she explains: “I have always loved the songs and ballads about selkies - a seal in the sea that takes off their sealskin and adopts human form on land. When doing some research about the selkie mythology, I read that if you cried seven tears into the sea, then your selkie lover would come back to you. I also love the Northumbrian word ‘darkening’ which means dusk; that time of night when magic happens, and the time that I once saw a bob of seals off a Northumbrian beach, which inspired me to write this song.”
Unthank : Smith will tour the UK in March / April 2023. The full live schedule is below. Tickets go on sale 2nd December 2022.
26 Mar - St Luke's, Glasgow, UK
27 Mar - The Empire, Belfast, UK
28 Mar - Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin, IE
29 Mar - Jimmy's, Liverpool, UK
30 Mar - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
31 Apr - Howard Assembly Hall, Leeds, UK
02 Apr - Wylam Brewery, Newcastle, UK
04 Apr - Cecil Sharp House, London, UK
05 Apr - Komedia, Brighton, UK
06 Apr - Trinity Centre (Fyfe Hall), Bristol, UK
07 Apr - Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK
More about Unthank : Smith’s debut album Nowhere And Everywhere:
The album hinges on the interplay between their two distinct, central voices and has three unaccompanied songs that form the spine of the record, lending it a raw and atmospheric feel. Whether they are telling stories of feared Tyneside press gangs (‘Captain Bover’), the bleak, gnarled landscapes depicted by WW1 artist Paul Nash (‘The Natural Urge’), the mythological ‘selkie’ creatures said to bob in Northumbrian waters (‘Seven Tears’, a rare Rachel Unthank composition), or addressing themes of economic migration that still ring true today (‘O’ Mary Will You Go’), Unthank : Smith masterfully nurture these words into vivid life.
Elsewhere ‘What Maks Makems’ is derived from Tom Pickard’s poem in the ‘Land of Three Rivers’ anthology of North-East poetry, paying tribute to Wearside and its proud shipbuilding heritage, as well as Smith’s own “crick-neck welder” father. ‘Robert Kay’ is the story of a Stockton-On-Tees WW1 soldier who died days before his return from war, and ‘Horumarye’ conjures thoughts of the sound of the wind whistling over the moors. The pair sculpt sometimes dark Northumbrian historical imagery for the modern day. View the full album biography and track by track here.
Unthank : Smith album artwork | Download image here
Unthank : Smith – Nowhere And Everywhere album tracklisting:
1. Captain Bover
2. The Natural Urge
3. Seven Tears
4. O’ Mary Will You Go
5. What Maks Makems
6. Red Wine Promises
7. Robert Kay
8. Lord Bateman
9. Horumarye
10. The King
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