Sunday 4 July 2010

There's nowt cute as folk

Remembering my recent Mumford and Sons rant, I want to balance out the cosmos a little.

I have discovered The Unthanks.






These girls are deceptive- this is not Laura Ashley dresses and soft-focus-meadows folk. This is dirty fingernails and no-knickers folk. They get in to the heart of a piece and lay every uncomfortable truth out to view. They thrust raw emotion, experimental blues-folk and unhappy endings into your head and they do so with simply exquisite harmonies and arrangements. It is knee-trembling, nod-and-a-wink music and every tune is an ear-worm.

The title track is haunting. Their performance of it is breathtaking. They have corrected every folk-by-numbers mistake of the past 12 months (I am looking at YOU Mumford). They tap dance.

Buy buy buy!

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