Bryter Layter |
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Released: March 5, 1971 Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: British folk |
Tracks:Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
All songs written by Nick Drake. Total Running Time: 39:09 |
Rating: 4.083 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings)
Quotable:“A perfectly artful reflection on loss and loneliness.” – Ned Raggett, AllMusic.comAwards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The Sophomore AlbumEnglish folk singer-songwriter released his first album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. His sophomore effort, Bryter Layter, was set for release in November 1970 but was delayed until March 1971 because of dissatisfaction with the artwork. WK“While not quite as melancholy as his debut…there are certain brooding qualities that continued to propagate the Nick Drake mystique.” AZ Bryter Layter “documents a time when Drake was disappointed but not yet disheartened by his lack of success. It is an ideal introduction to his music.” RD It “featured another set of exquisitely arranged and performed tunes.” AM “As his performances on keyboards and celeste help set the atmosphere, Drake reaches for a perfectly artful reflection on loss and loneliness and succeeds wonderfully.” AM “Definitely not the same mood music as his starker work, but still a fine showcase for Nick Drake.” AZ The Other PlayersJoe Boyd and Robert Kirby are back to produce and orchestrate respectively. Guitarist Richard Thompson is also back to accompany Drake and he recruited some other Fairport Convention musicians – bassist Dave Pegg and drummer Dave Mattacks. John Cale, formerly of Velvet Underground, also shows up on a couple of songs with his viola and other instruments. Beach Boys’ session musicians Mike Kowalski (drums) and Ed Carter (bass) are also players on the album. “This was the closest Drake came to being in a rock band.” RDThe Songs“It is impossible to detect anything other than sunlight” RD in the opening “elegant instrumental Introduction, as lovely a mood-setting piece as one would want…Bryter Layter indulges in a more playful sound at many points, showing that Drake was far from being a constant king of depression.” AM“While his performances remain generally low-key and his voice quietly passionate, the arrangements and surrounding musicians add a considerable amount of pep, as on the jazzy groove of the lengthy Poor Boy.” AM It “seemed to poke fun at Drake’s own melancholy.” RD It “feels more like a calmer equivalent to the genre-sliding experiments of Van Morrison at around the same time.” AM “Numbers that retain a softer approach, like At the Chime of a City Clock, still possess a gentle drive to them.” AM This song includes a saxophone. “Horns, flute, and strings arrangements lift such songs as…[that] and ,b>Hazy Jane I and II out of the realm of sad, folk-guitar music into something jazzier and lighter.” AZ “The beautiful piano and simple guitar of One of These Things First laments what could have been without sounding like a song of despair.” AZ The “two tracks featuring John Cale on various instruments (such as viola and harpsichord) have…[a] dark fragility.” AZ “Cale’s additions unsurprisingly favor the classically trained side of his personality, with particularly brilliant results on Northern Sky,” AM “a dreamy, brooding plea for long-lasting love.” AZ It “is simply too beautiful to have been written by someone who was indifferent to life.” RD Meanwhile, “the lovely Fly is a fragile apparition” AZ that is “faintly unsettling,” RD suggesting “the slow deterioration of Drake’s emotional state.” RD |
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First posted 6/19/2011; last updated 10/14/2026. |
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