The Unthanks @ RNCM, Manchester, 19 Apr

So rarely do we remember the family members behind famous musicians. Even rarer is it that they are fantastic artists in their own right, as was the case with Nick Drake’s mother Molly Drake who passed away in 1993. Now Northumberland’s finest folk act The Unthanks are paying tribute to her by reimagining her songs in a new album, Diversions Vol. 4, which brings them to the Royal Northern College of Music. This context certainly lends itself to an atmospheric show, which pairs the band’s live performance of Molly’s songs with projected family photographs and recorded readings of Molly’s poetry by her daughter Gabrielle.  

‘What can a song do to you? Can it wake up a memory sleeping?’, the Unthank sisters sing in their opener of the same name, Rachel Unthank’s earthy tones perfectly weighting the more ethereal voice of her younger sister Becky. With their gentle humour and profound melancholy, The Unthanks’ ability to colour in the lives of our ancestors remains breathtaking as the 1950s living room layout of the stage lends to the show’s cosy, séance feel.

While it is believed Molly only wrote songs to entertain her friends and family, they are wonderful creations, spacious at times and sorrowful at others: qualities that The Unthanks are more than equipped to provide. Little Weaver Bird comes across like a classic Unthanks tune, Niopha Keegan’s restless fiddle whipping around the sisters’ ominous harmonies and Adrian McNally’s haunting piano, while Soft Shelled Crab – surviving only from Gabrielle’s oral interpretation - sees the band reinterpreting Molly’s song with a swagger, centred around Chris Price’s jazzy double bass backbeat.

While Molly never found recognition in her lifetime, and likely never even desired it, tonight only shows that she had a wealth of influence. The night winds down with Becky delivering an arresting performance of Nick Drake’s River Man, before Rachel ends the evening with Dream Your Dreams and Molly’s assertion that a ‘seed of magic lies in all our dreaming’. Thanks to The Unthanks’ big-hearted re-imagining, one can imagine these songs being the seed for so much more.