Album review: Molly Drake, Molly Drake *Bryter Music)

Andy Gill
Friday 18 January 2013 15:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When a recording of Molly Drake singing her composition "Poor Mum" was made public a few years ago, it was immediately evident from where much of her son Nick's talent, not to mention his intonation and fragile worldview, had derived.

This beautifully packaged collection of 19 of Molly's home recordings confirms this notion. Set to simple piano arrangements, and sung in a gentle breathy caress, they employ avian and pastoral imagery to evoke mild frustration and yearning with an air of wistful melancholy: sound like anyone you know? And despite her amateur standing – she never once supposed these tapes would be made public – there's a keen poetic sensibility at work in lines like "I remember we, but you remember you and me".

Download: Happiness; I Remember; Poor Mum

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in