Diversions vol. 3 : Songs from the shipyards

"The Unthanks have filed their soundtrack to Richard Fenwick's documentary about the north-east's shipyards under "Diversions Vol 3", but it proves as arresting as their "proper" albums. It's a stark creation, using little more than piano, violin and voices, but its minimalism lends poignancy to songs and poetry narrating the glory and grime of a vanished era".

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"After the expansiveness of the Brighouse & Rastrick album, [volume 3] sounds positively sparse and downbeat - yet there's no shortage of drama, too and, like many soundtracks, you imagine the music takes on a very different character behind the screen images ... Stripped of the brass and strings we've become accustomed to hearing around the Untanks, [the project] yields interesting results - the relative bareness of the surroundings reminding us that the raw North Eastern vowels of Rachel Unthank, in particular, are a compelling vehicle for any lyric ... The bravest wildcard is the mic they stick in front of Adrian McNally to sing the Elvis Costello classic Shipbuilding. He's no June Tabor but, against all odds and due in no small part to the Unthank backing choir, it builds into a surprisingly effective track ... The most convincing yet of their diversionary sideshows".