The Fall

The Unutterable is the 21st studio album by The Fall, released in November 2000 on Eagle Records. Its predecessor was The Marshall Suite (1999), and on this record the NME heard a singer who had finally found a backing band he could trust. This 4CD edition adds the Testa Rossa monitor mixes and two concerts from 2001.

The group around Mark E. Smith was Julia Nagle on keyboards, guitar and programming, Neville Wilding on guitar and vocals, Adam Helal on bass and Pro Tools, and Tom Head on drums. Smith produced the album with Grant Showbiz. The sessions were spread across several small studios, Sonic Surgery, Testa Rossa and Streetlevel II, with programming done on site. The album first came out on CD only; its first vinyl edition followed in 2014.

Smith's lyrics roam widely. In Dr. Buck's Letter he places himself "in the realm of the essence of Tong", a line the NME singled out, and Two Librans takes in Oprah Winfrey, Peace Studies and Chechnya. Way Round is about his hatred of roundabouts, and Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes is a foray into dinner jazz about his favourite meal. Wilding wrote and sings Hands Up Billy, and Kazuko Hohki adds vocals. Every song is credited to members of the group and its circle; there is no cover version. Disc two's Testa Rossa monitor mixes are early takes on most of the album plus two unused instrumentals. Disc three is a show at TJ's in Newport, Wales, on 16 April 2001. Disc four is a set at the Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh on 10 October 2001. There I Am Damo Suzuki and Mr Pharmacist share the stage with songs for the next album such as Bourgeois Town and Crop Dust.

Reviewing it for the NME, Piers Martin wrote that it was "as vital and relevant as The Fall have sounded for a considerable length of time". Before the next album Smith had replaced the entire band, so this is the last studio record by the Nagle, Wilding, Helal and Head line-up. On the live discs Spencer Birtwistle is already on drums, with Jim Watts on bass.

4CD expanded edition on Cherry Red (CRCD4BOX194), October 2025, compiled with Conway Paton, with notes by Daryl Easlea, remastering by Andy Pearce and art by Becky Stewart.