Rachel Unthank

NORTHUMBRIAN STAR

What music are you currently grooving to?

I’ve just been to see the film Arcadia with a live soundtrack written by Adrian Utley & Will Gregory and am enjoying their unsettling soundscapes. My sister Becky has also just alerted me to the hugely moving Olympian by Declan O’Rourke, which tells the true story of Yusra and Sara Mardini who swam alongside an overcrowded boat of refugees in the Aegean Sea and how Yusra fulfilled her dream of swimming at the Olympics with the refugee team.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel The Illinois. All the joyous counterrhythms and beautifully crafted arrangements, I feel like I still hear new things every time I listen.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?

HMV in Newcastle, New Kids On The Block, (You Got It) The Right Stuff! Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? When I was a teenager my friends and I dreamed of being in a grunge band. I’d love to have had the attitude to have carried that off. But, alas, I wasn’t from Seattle. What do you sing in the shower?

I sing just about everywhere else apart from the shower. A lot of singing in the car. At the moment my kids’ and my current car favourite is Scottish-based folk group Lau. Maybe if I was caught on my own you might catch me singing Bon

Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Ben Folds Five. For some fun and flair, and wit and energy. Plenty to sing along to and do a bit of kitchen dancing.

And your Sunday morning record? Joni Mitchell’s Ladies Of The Canyon. Glorious, breezy, sunny vibes to waft away the winter blues.