Sorrows Away RABBLE ROUSER
9/10
“WE’VE learnt a new song to drive sorrows away”, declare The Unthanks on the epic title track of their latest album. It’s a simple enough sentiment, yet one loaded with profound meaning. For a band who draw strength and inspiration from the act of communal togetherness, the past couple of years have been especially tough. Not only did the enforced lockdown prevent them from playing live, but it put a stopper in the residential workshops and weekends that have been such a crucial part of The Unthanks’ MO for a decade or so.
Sorrows Away often feels like a liberation. Back on the road since the spring, The Unthanks have already been previewing the album live, as an extended 11-piece band, their set hitting peak catharsis with the aforementioned “Sorrows Away (Love Is Kind)”, inviting everyone into its gently arcing chorus. For those of us who’ve been lucky enough to be there, it’s a deceptively moving moment. The song also contains most everything that makes The Unthanks what they are: impossibly luminous harmonies, a great arrangement, sinuous ensemble work and a symphonic sense of scale.
