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![Nick Drake Essentials](/https/music.apple.com/assets/artwork/1x1.gif)
Uncelebrated in his lifetime, Nick Drake's stark, melancholy folk songs recorded at the turn of the '70s carry something of the lost prodigy in their mournful sound. It's in the gauzy murmur of his voice, nudging along pastoral melodies in a sibilant hum, sounding both ageless and ancient. It's in the doubt-ridden, autumnal lyrics, steeped in magic of the natural world. And it's most firmly in the devilish swing, ragga and ragtime patterns he plucked from his guitar amid Robert Kirby's delicate, all-enveloping string arrangements.