by Nick Drake
Released February 25, 1972 via Island Records
Reviewed February 24, 2022
Top tracks (based on community voting)
Pink Moon (76%), Place To Be (49%), Things Behind The Sun (36%)
This decrepit shack hasn’t felt a human palm upon its sodden frame for half a century. Its frail mouth taps on the back of your acoustic as you enter, a brief connection of material between the ages. It closes and darkness is swallowed into the room. Your only source of light becomes an endearingly small, cracked window and a handful of nooks carrying draughts. You sit, sigh, and pluck at the strings, your fingers gracefully hopping between the frets. Prima ballerina assoluta. A piano briefly makes an appearance on the opening track, but apart from that, Nick Drake’s papery baritone is accompanied only by his acoustic prowess. Its simplicity let it go unnoticed for a long time, but there is a certain emotive quality in this pairing that a lot of classic acoustic performances had never captured; the kind you would murmur to a soulmate. It wasn’t until the end of the millennium where it sauntered into the mainstream, but by this point, Nick Drake had established his posthumous omnipresence in music. When one picks up a guitar, they’ll learn something from Pink Moon. When you think of the singer/songwriter, you’ll think of Pink Moon, or at least what it means. It was ‘Pink Moon’ in that Cabriolet advertisement that reminded us of artistic culpability, capability, and integrity in mass contexts. And for that, Nick Drake will be immortalised as one of contemporary music’s greatest contributors. – Cam (10/10)
Not only is Pink Moon the album that chronologically succeeds Bryter Layter in Nick Drake’s discography, but Pink Moon feels as if it was made in the twilight following its release. Beautiful orchestral segmentation is stripped away—as is the whimsy—leaving only an acoustic guitar and the whisper of an angel up against your ear. Nick Drake feels as though he’s singing from the darkened corner of your room on your worst day. There’s no reason to believe that anyone else could make an album quite like this. Cathartic, whole, and complete, Nick Drake left his whole heart for us in the span of just under 30 minutes, and we must cherish it forever. – Ben (Synth) (9.5/10)
Nick Drake's final album before passing away at the tender age of 26 proved to be his most concise and well-performed project. The lack of commercial success and significance at Pink Moon's release is a telling sign that some don't receive their flowers while they can still smell them. Pink Moon is a masterclass in simplicity—or at least a masterclass in making things seem simple. Intimate doesn't begin to describe the claustrophobic atmosphere which engulfs the record's runtime. Pink Moon is a record to confide in—to find solace in after a day that lasts an eternity. A warm blanket to shut out the cold world. – Peter (9.5/10)
Cam: 10/10 | Jared: 10/10 | Peter: 9.5/10 | Ben (Synth): 9.5/10 | Alan: 9.2/10
Dominick: 9/10 | Hadley: 8.5/10 | Daniel: 8.2/10
