Here's the Tender Coming
Encyclopedia
Here's the Tender Coming, the third album by English folk
group The Unthanks, and the first under The Unthanks moniker, was released on 14 September 2009. It was Folk Album of the Year for The Guardian
and also for MOJO magazine. In the sleeve notes for the album, Rachel Unthank said that although the Tender in the album's title track refers to the boat that is on its way to press men to sea, "the title of this song seemed to encapsulate for us the feeling of our new album, which is perhaps calmer and a little warmer in contrast to the stark bleakness of The Bairns".
, described it as an "astonishing record", "beautiful”, “haunting”, and “beguiling". For The Guardian
, Colin Irwin said: "This album may not be quite as bleak as The Bairns, and the sound is more sophisticated, but they still sound like nobody else... Tracks build slowly and mysteriously, but all are in service of the song. Their arrangement of the title track − a traditional song about the emotional devastation wrought by press gangs − brilliantly encapsulates the story's fraught desperation. Their version of Nobody Knew She Was There, one of Ewan MacColl's lesser-known songs about his mother, painstakingly paints a similarly dramatic backdrop with more atmospheric brass, and they put their own stamp on the Nic Jones classic, Annachie Gordon." Neil Spencer, for UNCUT
, said: "It’s an often exquisite mixture of light and dark, instinct and artistry, that honours both the power of old songs and the stoicism of the lives that shaped them. Rarely has the deep past sounded so stirring, or so modern."
Hidden track: "Betsy Bell" (Traditional, arranged by The Unthanks)
Additional musicians
Folk music of England
Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings...
group The Unthanks, and the first under The Unthanks moniker, was released on 14 September 2009. It was Folk Album of the Year for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and also for MOJO magazine. In the sleeve notes for the album, Rachel Unthank said that although the Tender in the album's title track refers to the boat that is on its way to press men to sea, "the title of this song seemed to encapsulate for us the feeling of our new album, which is perhaps calmer and a little warmer in contrast to the stark bleakness of The Bairns".
Reception
Sid Smith, of BBC MusicBBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
, described it as an "astonishing record", "beautiful”, “haunting”, and “beguiling". For The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Colin Irwin said: "This album may not be quite as bleak as The Bairns, and the sound is more sophisticated, but they still sound like nobody else... Tracks build slowly and mysteriously, but all are in service of the song. Their arrangement of the title track − a traditional song about the emotional devastation wrought by press gangs − brilliantly encapsulates the story's fraught desperation. Their version of Nobody Knew She Was There, one of Ewan MacColl's lesser-known songs about his mother, painstakingly paints a similarly dramatic backdrop with more atmospheric brass, and they put their own stamp on the Nic Jones classic, Annachie Gordon." Neil Spencer, for UNCUT
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
, said: "It’s an often exquisite mixture of light and dark, instinct and artistry, that honours both the power of old songs and the stoicism of the lives that shaped them. Rarely has the deep past sounded so stirring, or so modern."
Track listing
- "Because He Was a Bonny Lad" (Traditional)
- "Sad February" (Graeme Miles)
- "Annachie Gordon" (Traditional)
- "Luck Gilchrist" (Adrian McNally)
- "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" (Frank Higgins/The Unthanks)
- "Living by the Water" (Anne BriggsAnne BriggsAnne Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she traveled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music...
) - "Where've Yer Bin Dick?" (Traditional)
- "Nobody Knew Shew Was There" (Ewan MacCollEwan MacCollEwan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
) - "Flowers of the Town" (Anonymous)
- "Not Much Luck in Our House" (Traditional)
- "At First She Starts" (Lal WatersonLal WatersonLal Waterson was an English folksinger and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder. She was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and died suddenly in Robin Hood's Bay, of cancer diagnosed only ten days before...
/Oliver Knight) - "Here's the Tender Coming" (Traditional)
Hidden track: "Betsy Bell" (Traditional, arranged by The Unthanks)
Personnel
The Unthanks- Rachel Unthank – voice, cello, ukelele, clogs
- Becky Unthank – voice, feet, autoharpAutoharpThe autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
- Niopha Keegan – violin, voice, accordion, mandolin
- Adrian McNally – piano, dampened piano, plucked piano, drums, marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, chime bars, autoharp, Wu-Han tam tam, Chinese temple gongs, Tubular bellsTubular BellsTubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
, backing voice - Chris Price – guitar, bass, ukulele, dulcitoneDulcitoneA dulcitone is a keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by a range of tuning forks, which vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers activated by the keyboard....
, marimba, backing voice
Additional musicians
- Jo Silverston – solo cello
- Rosie Biss – quartet cello
- Mike Gerrard – viola
- Andre Swanepoel – violin
- Iona BrownIona BrownIona Brown, OBE was a British violinist and conductor.Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury. Her parents Antony and Fiona were both musicians...
– violin - Jenny Chang – violin
- Dan Rogers – bowed double bass
- Graham Hardy – trumpet, flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
- Simon Tarrant – trumpet
- Chris Hibberd – trombone
- Adam Sinclair – drums, cymbals, shaky egg
- Julian Sutton – melodeon
- Neil Harland – double bass
- Shelley Thomson – backing voice
- Jane Pollinger – backing voice
External links
- Official website – http://www.the-unthanks.com