THE Unthanks will release the fourth volume of their Diversions album series, The Songs And Poems Of Molly Drake, on May 26.

"Only recently unearthed and made public, we believe that Molly Drake’s private collection of 1950s' home recordings contains songs extraordinary enough to rank alongside and independently of the work of her revered son, Nick Drake," say North Eastern folk sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank.

"To make our own record of her work, we have teamed up with Molly’s daughter and Nick’s sister – the celebrated actress Gabrielle Drake – whose spellbinding performances of her mother’s enchanting poetry we have set to music, centre-stage alongside our singing."

BBC 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne gave the album's first single, What Can A Song Do To You?, its world exclusive first airing, whereupon The Unthanks' website went live with a promo video, album information and the facility to buy not one but two new Unthanks record.

"In addition to Diversions Vol. 4, we're also releasing Extras, an appendage to the album featuring a further eight tracks, including two of Molly’s finest songs, Happiness and Night Is My Friend," say The Unthanks. "Extras will only be available directly from us, and there will be special offers and bundles for both records, exclusive to mailing list members."

While the official release date is May 26, all pre-orders made online at the-unthanks.com will be mailed out as soon as the pressing plants deliver copies to The Unthanks, with an estimated date of April 18 for CDs and April 22 for vinyl.

Both records also will be available to buy at The Unthanks' spring tour, How Wild The Wind Blows, Performing The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake, from April 18, when the dates will include Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on May 11 and 12 at 7.30pm. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk