A very meaningful memory of Nick Drake sharing unreleased songs.

The Making of Five Leaves Left is exactly how it sounds. Five Leaves Left is Nick Drake’s album from ’69. Drake passed away at only 26 years old, and at such a young age, had an extremely established career. It is amazing to have his unreleased music shown to the world and truly appreciated.

This album has four discs, including a compilation of songs that did not make it on the album as well as the demo tracks before the final products. The song titles, such as “Strange Face – 1st Sound Techniques Session, March / 1969” and “Mickey’s Tune – Cambridge, Lent Term/1968” show exciting insights into the workings of Five Leaves Left.

One of the aspects that makes this album so special is the contrast and build of songs throughout each stage of the writing process. “River Man” is first seen on Disc 3 with the titles “River Man – Take 1, 4th January 1969” and “River Man – Take 2,April 1969.” “River Man – Take 2, April 1969” is transcendent compared to the first take. Although the foundation of the song was set, the strings were added in such a way of power, this song grew to another level entirely. It is inspiring to see how a song that you wouldn’t think to change can evolve so much. “River Man” is mastered on the final album, shown on Disc 4, with even more elegant instrumentation.

Rawness is demonstrated at the beginning of the tracks as the first cuts of speaking and tuning are kept in for most of the songs. One track that did not make the final album, “My Love Left With The Rain – Cambridge, Lent Term/1968,” is a very cool example of this -“Uh, this one is called ‘My Love Left With The Rain’ / the introduction I did with flute and stuff,” as he continued to speak, hum and demonstrate how he wrote the song.

On this album, there are tons of unreleased songs filled with sweetness and subtlety. “Blossom – Cambridge, Lent Term/1968” can bring listeners to tears with Drake’s voice and minimalistic production alone.

There is something extremely intimate about hearing how artists create their art. We, as fans, can hold on to any piece of information we get about an artist’s writing and producing process, and hold on to even more when the artist has passed away. Nick Drake meant a lot to a lot of people, and The Making of Five Leaves Left is a very beautiful way to remember him as an artist.