Nick Drake Estate To Release ‘The Making Of Five Leaves Left’

The Nick Drake Estate has announced the upcoming release of a project nine years in gestation: The Making Of Five Leaves Left. This new edition of Drake’s 1969 debut comprises over 30 previously unheard outtakes from the sessions which gradually became Five Leaves Left  and will be available as 4 CD and 4 LP box sets. The project is set to be released on July 25th via UMR/Island Records, with pre-orders open now. 

Order The Making Of Five Leaves Left.

Originally, the Drake Estate didn’t plan on putting out any re-releases, as they wanted listeners to concentrate on the beauty within the original released studio recordings. Things changed following the discovery of remarkable tapes from two new outside sources in addition to a comprehensive re-ordering of the Universal tape library. With this unearthed material, Nick’s sister Gabrielle felt that now was the time to reveal the origin story of the album.  

The lovingly put together set features studio outtakes and previously unheard songs that tell the story of how Nick Drake’s debut album came to be released on Island Records in July 1969. The set includes Nick’s first ever session at Sound Techniques–found on a mono listening-reel which collaborator Beverley Martyn had squirreled away over fifty years ago. It also contains the full reel recorded at Caius College by Cambridge acquaintance Paul de Rivaz, which had lain in the bottom of a drawer for decades, accompanying him and his family around the world. 

The Making Of Five Leaves Left will feature a full history of the recording across an illustrated 60 page book. Printed on special textured paper-stock which is 100% recyclable and biodegradable, the book was written by Neil Storey in collaboration with Richard Morton-Jack, author of the 2023 biography Nick Drake: The Life. 

The final disc in each package is the original Joe Boyd produced album. The whole set has been mastered by John Wood and Simon Heywood.

Order The Making Of Five Leaves Left.