Lookaftering (CD)
It's not often you come across an artist you can genuinely refer to as a "cult legend," but Vashti Bunyan is truly that. A full thirty-five years after her only previous album, the singer returns with a new solo work, her first in all these years, and it is a breathtakingly beautiful album. Far from some kind of appendage tacked onto the end of an amazing story and a past classic, Lookaftering is a fully beautiful album in its own right. Produced by fellow Edinburgh resident Max Richter, and co-arranged with Bunyan, it's a rich, beautifully arranged and stirring album. Developing gradually and organically-- with work initially taking place between Richter and Bunyan's homes, and then at various studios in Edinburgh, London and Glasgow-- Lookaftering is anchored around Bunyan's voice and picked acoustic guitar, and Richter's piano playing and arranging. Its instrumentation includes a string quartet, oboe, harp, French horn, recorder, flute, hammer dulcimer, glasses, harmonium, and Rhodes piano, and it features contributions from Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Adem, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade), Robert Kirby (Nick Drake), Otto Hauser and Kevin Barker (Espers, Currituck County).
| Tracklisting | |
| Disk | 1 | |
| 1 | Lately |
| 2 | Here Before |
| 2 | Herebefore |
| 3 | Wayward |
| 4 | Hidden |
| 5 | Against the Sky |
| 6 | Turning Backs |
| 7 | If I Were |
| 8 | Same But Different |
| 9 | Brother |
| 10 | Feet of Clay |
| 11 | Wayward Hum |
| Dylan Taverner
- Bridgeport, CT, USA |
| Every song on this album is perfect. You can feel the years in Vashti's voice, which wash over every single track. A collaborator with both Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan brings her own fresh, distinctive style to the renovated genre of New-Folk without sacrificing any of her relevance. Everything feels genuine here. "If I Were" is a great track to check out to get a taste of the best of this album. Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, this album is a concisely beautiful trip backwards in time. | |