hypersongs

Mount the Air

Their sixth studio album, made over two years in their own studio.
The Unthanks, 2015

Adrian McNally recorded and produced it between August 2012 and October 2014 at the band's own studio in Northumberland, which Living North describes as a makeshift studio in an old granary in Corbridge. Denis Blackham mastered it at Skye Mastering. Singles were "Mount the Air" (December 8, 2014), "Flutter" (February 16, 2015) and "Died for Love" (June 8, 2015). It reached 26 in the UK and 4 on the independent chart, and won best album at the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The Daily Telegraph and the Irish Times gave it five stars, the Guardian four and the Observer three; the Financial Times said the orchestration recalls Gil Evans's work for Miles Davis. Drowned in Sound gave it 8 out of 10, and The Skinny called it folky, proggy, quiet and loud. "Magpie", by Davey Dodds, inspired series three of Detectorists.

Track listing

  1. Mount the Air10:34
  2. Madam4:54
  3. Died for Love3:48
  4. Flutter3:38
  5. Magpie5:03
  6. Foundling10:48
  7. Last Lullaby5:55
  8. Hawthorn4:22
  9. For Dad4:40
  10. The Poor Stranger4:01
  11. Waiting3:00

More from The Unthanks

Here's The Tender Coming (2009), Last (2011), Lines Parts One, Two & Three (2018), Lines - Part Two - World War One (2018), Lines Part Three Emily Brontë (2018), Lines - Part One - Lillian Bilocca (2018), Sorrows Away (2022), In Winter (2024)

Sources

  1. Mount the Air, Wikipedia
  2. Folk idols: the Unthanks, Living North (2015-01)