So what to make of this then? Ethically, if in no other way. Posthumous collections of this, that and the other are commonplace, in some cases acceptable and occasionally laudable for their unearthing of hidden gems it would be have been cruel to leave concealed. Take a look at Jeff Buckley’s ever increasing back-catalogue care-of his mother for extensive arguments to support most sides. But where to place the decision by a major label to release the debut single from one of the UK’s most cult artists 30 years on from his untimely passing? It’s hard to see that as anything other than pure economics, but with this accompanying full-length album of Nick Drake rarities, remixes and one newly discovered song maybe they can pull the defence back more in their favour.
Drake’s overgrown grave, languishing anonymously somewhere near Birmingham, might not get anywhere near the Jim Morrison treatment, but that’s not to underestimate the true modern-day reach of his inspiration. Unappreciated in his time, but now the foundation for entire musical movements and worshipped performers like Badly Drawn Boy, Beck, and Kings Of Convenience, to name just three at random, he left behind a trio of perfectly formed and beautifully measured albums which blew unnoticed like little acorns into the fields of popular culture. And there’s no shifting the picturesque oaks they grew into.
From early recordings demoed while at Cambridge in the late 60s, and recovered from fellow student Robert Kirby’s potting shed, through material that never made the cut on the albums and latter songs which would have formed the fourth Nick Drake record, these songs here can only reinforce the myth that this gifted boy was never short of perfection any time he picked up a guitar and opened his mouth.
Impressively ‘Time Of No Reply’ only existed in a slow two-track vocal/guitar recording with a manuscript detailing the proposed orchestral backing. It appears here in its full planned glory and is sturdy, pretty and accomplished. New track ‘Tow The Line’ could, like any other example here have sat alongside any officially released collection without cheapening the impression. Even if this is an exercise in scraping the barrel his standards remained so high that you’d never reach that as a conclusion.