Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by The Unthanks

"The Unthanks seem to regard folk music the same way Miles Davis regarded jazz: as a launch pad for exploring the wider possibilities.” Uncut

Definable only by their restless, peerless eccentricity, The Unthanks are storytellers outside of time, forging links between folk worlds old, new and other. Not many bands can count members of Radiohead and Portishead, Elvis Costello, Robert Wyatt, Colin Firth, Ben Folds, Ryan Adams, Rosanne Cash, Dawn French, Ewan McGregor and Nick Hornby amongst their admirers, but The Unthanks occupy a unique place in music. Using the traditional music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Steve Reich, Miles Davis, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits can be heard in the band’s 7 albums to date. The Unthanks is a family affair for Mercury nominated Tyneside sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank, with Rachel also married to Adrian McNally, the band’s pianist, producer arranger and composer.