Autumn 2009 represents an exciting and adventurous time for Mercury-nominated Geordie band formerly known as Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. Having established themselves as the most innovative and critically acclaimed English folk band in modern history, with admirers as disparate as Radiohead, Portishead, Robert Wyatt, Ben Folds, Nic Jones, Ewan McGregor and Nick Hornby, The Unthanks are ready to risk it all with another audacious step sideways. While the abbreviated name reflects the long-established reality that the band is co-fronted by Rachel Unthank's sister Becky Unthank, the real development is an extended line-up including string quartet, brass, percussion, tuned percussion, bass, and The Unthank's producer Adrian McNally taking on piano responsibilities from Stef Conner. Winterset key member Niopha Keegan continues on violin. Known for their timeless, unsentimental and quietly subversive tales of loss, fear, booze, brawls, abuse and sorrow, new album Here's The Tender Coming, as the name suggests, is a calmer, melancholic, warmer colour of sad, than the intense bleakness of its predecessor; The Bairns, nominated for the Uncut Music Prize and Mercury Music Prize as one of the top ten British albums of the year. Forging links between folk worlds old, new and other, The Unthanks are the inheritors, curators and distorters of Tyneside's traditions. Don't miss the next chapter.

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