Having recently spent two consecutive evenings at London’s beautiful Union Chapel performing the works of Robert Wyatt and Anthony and the Johnsons, Mercury Prize nominated The Unthanks have revealed details of their new album. Due out on March 14 2011, Last was recorded at the snowed-under Northumberland farmhouse of singer Rachel Unthank and pianist Adrian McNally and is set to include a Tom Waits cover. The band will be stepping out on an extensive tour in the New Year with Trembling Bells to co-inside with the release of their fourth slice of wistful romantic folk.

March
19 – Phoenix Arts Centre, Exeter
20 – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
21 – Arnolfini, Bristol
22 – St David Hall, Cardiff
23 – The Point, Eastleigh
24 – Regal, Oxford
25 – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
26 – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
27 – Glee Club, Nottingham
30 – Manchester Cathedral, Manchester
31 – The Stables, Milton Keynes

April
1 – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
2 – St Paul’s Church, Cambridge
4 – Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich
5 – The Apex C, Bury St Edmonds
6 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham
7 – Stanley Theatre, Liverpool
9 – Vicar St, Dublin
10 – School of Music, Cork
11 – Dolans, Limerick
12 – The Roisin Dubh, Galway
13 – The Riverbank Theatre, Kildare
14 – The Empire, Belfast
15 – Queen Hall, Edinburgh
16 – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
17 – The Arches, Glasgow
18 – Tyne Theatre, Newcastle
19 – Picture House, Hebden Bridge

End of the Road Festival have announced their latest crop of bands for their 5th festival today. Although no headliners have been announced to join Wilco, The Unthanks, Django Django, The Felice Brothers, Megafaun and Dengue Fever have all been popular choices if our Twitter feed is to be believed. There’s also a strong Canadian presence, and Oh! Canada is particularly pleased to see Black Mountain, Timber Timbre and Elliot Brood joining The Wilderness of Manitoba on the bill.

Todays full announcement:

The Antlers
Black Mountain
Cate Le Bon
Daredevil Christopher Wright
Deer Tick
Dengue Fever
Django Django
Don’t Move
Elliott Brood
Felice Brothers
Forest Fire
Frank Fairfield
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Joe Pug
Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell
Ladyhawk
Megafaun
Mountain Man
Nurses
Papercuts
The Ruby Suns
Snowman
Timber Timbre
The Unthanks

To celebrate the return of Black Mountain to these shores, those good folk at Jagjaguwar have provided two tracks for you to download:
MP3> Druganaut
MP3> Tyrants
PC: right click and choose “save as…”
MAC: CTRL + click and choose “save link as”