Cat No PDCD014

Italian band Blend, formed in 1996, released this tribute to one of their idols, Nick Drake, in 2002, but it never received an official UK release, until now. They had previously released a couple of lo-fi, folk-pop albums : “Waterjag” (1997) and “Cellophant” (2000) showing a general alternative US rock influence.

They chose 6 Drake songs : ”River Man” from “Five Leaves Left” (done as a jazzy instrumental - very much a la Brad Mehldau on his 1998 ‘Art of the Trio Vol.3’); “Parasite”, “From The Morning”, & “Things Behind The Sun” from “Pink Moon”; and “Rider On the Wheel” & “Joey” from the 1986 “Time of No Reply” collection - but, perhaps surprisingly, nothing from “Bryter Layter”. Their undoubted affection & respect for the material is obvious, and they manage to capture some of the magical melancholy of the songs, adding slightly spacey, soft psychedelic backings, although Al Fabris’ vocals might seem a little too quiet & characterless to some ears. They add a Drake-ish number of their own, “Slow Days”.

Many have tried to cover Nick Drake songs - most with dubious results - proving that the material is deceptively difficult to cover, copy, amend or develop successfully. Blend’s attempt may only reaffirm just how good Drake’s originals are - yet at least they have the simple, unaffected charm of an unpretentious indie rock band - recording a tribute to an artist who has steadily grown (against all the music biz odds) across 30+ years, into a key musical touch-stone of popular music in the ongoing rock era - certainly initially only by word of mouth and even later through very little hype.

‘Far Leys’ - displayed on the cover and giving this album its title - is of course the Tanworth-in –Arden house where Nick Drake grew up, and where he spent his final hours, in 1974, when aged 24, he died following an accidental overdose of barbiturates.