Nick Drake

BIOGRAPHY

“Nick Drake’s family must be so proud of his work and its enduring nature. It’s become a part of growing up for sensitive music lovers to discover him. I particularly think of Nick’s music at the changing of the season when autumn comes around, year in, year out. Many people do. What an incredible legacy.” Guy Garvey

In November 1974, Nick Drake’s passage through this world came to a premature end, and in doing so bequeathed a painful irony. As his journey ended, the songs in which he invested such high hopes were just beginning theirs. Five decades ago, the idea that Nick might one day become a household name was inconceivable. In volume, Nick’s legacy – three albums and a scattering of songs either side of them – is painfully slight. But over time, his influence on ensuing generations of artists is comparable to that of, say, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley or Joni Mitchell; measurable by the frequency with which his name is referenced on the pages of any music monthlies.

Nick’s lasting influence is also reflected in The Endless Coloured Ways, a new anthology of his songs lovingly reimagined by a kaleidoscopic array of artists, all of whom were given the same brief by the project’s co-creator and Chrysalis Records CEO Jeremy Lascelles, who explains, “We just asked them to ignore the original recording and reinvent the song in their own unique style.” The results tell an extraordinary story – a series of sonic brush strokes that, song by song, reveals a vivid new portrait of Nick and his music. It’s there in Fontaines D.C.’s ectoplasmic detonation of “’Cello Song,” which sees the Dublin quintet tease out the restive undercurrents of Nick’s original version; on the wired fever dream energy that Aldous Harding and John Parish’s hypnotic harmonies confer upon “Three Hours;” and on John Grant’s stunning reading of “Day Is Done.” On the latter, we hear Grant creating a spectral electronic hymn to inhabit the space between the hopes we nurture and what the world has in store for those aspirations.

For Cally Callomon, Manager of the Nick Drake Estate and co-creator of The Endless Coloured Ways, the objective in putting this collection together extended beyond that of the classic tribute album. Together with Jeremy Lascelles, the pair sought to put together a record that will “flow as a cohesive listening experience, as opposed to a gallery of separate exhibits.” What emerges over repeated listens is a paradoxical beauty. Simultaneously we’ve travelled far away from Nick Drake’s original versions and yet, in the hands of such inspired custodians, the timeless truth at the heart of these songs burns more brightly than ever. Pick a song. Any song. He isn’t far away at all. He’s right there in front of you. The Endless Coloured Ways – The Songs Of Nick

Drake is released on July 7th via Chrysalis Records. In the lead up to the release of the album, Chrysalis will issue a series of limited edition, double A sided 7inch singles, featuring a selection of the assembled artists. The series will be completed with a bonus disc consisting of a previously unreleased recording of Nick Drake singing the Bob Dylan song “Tomorrow Is A long Time.”