The Unthanks come to Hastings on Friday 6 December

The Unthanks winter concert at White Rock Theatre this Friday

Erica Smith was excited to learn that The Unthanks are bringing wintery songs to Hastings on Friday 6 December. The perfect way to conjure up the Yuletide vibe.

In Winter is an abstract new work that captures the warmth and nostalgia of the festive season, the chill and darkness of the winter months, and the reflective rituals of the turn of the year. In typical magpie style, The Unthanks collect and reimagine the unique and the familiar in an inspired but natural and effortless style.

What to expect?

The Unthanks have been described as “a take on tradition that flips so effortlessly between jazz, classical, ambient and post-rock, it makes any attempt to put a label on them a waste of time”.

If you come to the White Rock Theatre on Friday, you’ll hear what a Tyneside band playing a German Christmas song in the style of The Beach Boys sounds like! Not only that, but these northern folkies will perform a Spanish carol through the filter of Tom Waits; a newly written tribute to the NHS; an abstract take on A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten; traditional wassails and old stories coloured with folk  noir and traces of Vincent Guaraldi’s Merry Christmas Charlie Brown.

In Winter features a new sound palette for The Unthanks, incorporating vibraphone, clarinet and  saxophone into the core band that features vocal harmony, piano, violin, double bass, guitars and  percussion.

The Unthanks tell stories that captivate children. They make music cutting edge enough to be BBC 6Music regulars. They can equally be found on Radios 2, 3 and 4, reframing history and drawing together the worlds of folk, jazz, orchestral, electronic and rock music. The believability of their storytelling is admired by some of our best storytellers – Mackenzie Crook, Elvis Costello, Maxine Peake, Nick Hornby, Martin Freeman, Robert Wyatt, Charles Hazelwood, Ben Myers and David Mitchell, to name a few.

“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

At the nucleus of a constantly evolving unit are the Tyneside sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank and the arrangements and writing of Barnsley composer, pianist and producer, Adrian McNally.

“It’s quite a rare thing now. They’ve really got everything you could want from music. And I’m very  fussy.”
Robert Wyatt

Using the traditional music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits makes The Unthanks a unique band, earning them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and international acclaim along the way.

The Unthanks in Winter is on at the White Rock theatre, Hastings, on Friday 6 December. Doors 7pm / Start 7.30pm
£32.50 + booking fee
Book your advance tickets here.
Reserved seating
Age restrictions: 14s and under to be accompanied by an 18+ adult

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