Nick Drake
Bryter Layter

THE REVIEW

Alright, since this is my first review, I will make a huge effort to violate all the good little rules indicated by the editorial team okay ;-)?

So, I don't know if it has ever happened to you out there, to be blown away... by a record (are they still called that)?

I was blown away by this record. It is, I believe, the sum of elements that in themselves have something exceptional.

First point: the stylistic signature, a term that sounds very cool, and it is. So Nick, when he wrote this record, was just over twenty (I, on the other hand, wasn't even born), and yet... he already mastered a defined and particular vocabulary, his Voice, which is not so easy for all musicians to find - I think I read somewhere that he received 'recognition' with this record - moreover selling 15,000 copies - something that other musicians achieve with years of hustle, and self-promotion.

Second point: the genre - which was innovative in years of rock, blues, and folk blues. it was none of this and all of this together. An exceptionally refined folk, so beautiful in the arrangements as to be comparable to classical music (Nick diligently listened to the Brandenburg concertos, and his stylistic rigor, and technical details are proven evidence of this..), so romantic and poignant in the lyrics as to be associated with the poetry of the greatest English poets (and his lyrics have value even without music). It was meticulously studied and perfect, and yet it was free, it was unique and rebellious, it drew inspiration from all of this and was different still. sometimes it seems as if the musicians participating in the record have difficulty associating the improvisational genre's style with Nick Drake's innovative harmonies - there are, from a purely technical point of view, chord sequences that, after 20 years of listening, I have not found in anyone else. Nonetheless, the result is even more exceptional, and these 'discrepancies' enrich it and enhance its value. It is astonishing, however, the complete harmony with R. Kirby, the author of the arrangements for strings and winds.

Now, the third point is the most difficult. Because it's one thing when someone is talented, and it's another when someone speaks directly to your heart, without going through your brain - and this is what I feel when I listen to his record. I believe all of this is possible because Nick Drake put all his being, without reservations, without a safety net (as he wrote in one of his letters), into his music. Of the signs, that he saw around him, and that were his world, he apparently could not speak to more than a very few people, despite the success of the record, but evidently and strongly, he desired to do so.

"Bryter Layter" is a very beautiful record. Perfect. The best I have ever listened to. The landscape it paints is complete, it's a universe, with its places, its characters, its symbols. This is more than anything one could ever expect from a record. And this is what it is for me.

Bye!