One of British folk's most enigmatic debuts, Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left, will be the subject of a box set yielding newly-discovered outtakes and unreleased material.

The Making of Five Leaves Left, hitting stores on July 25, offers a new chronological look at Drake's first album through more than 30 unreleased outtakes and a new pressing of the original album, available either on four CDs or four LPs and remastered by original album engineer John Wood. An illustrated 60-page book, printed on textured, recycled paper, accompanies the discs, offering new liner notes by Neil Storey and Richard Morton-Jack, the latter of whom published an illuminative biography on Drake in 2023. Though precious little material emerged from Drake's archive for decades after his 1974 death - and only sparingly even after a major rediscovery of his catalogue at the turn of the century - The Making of Five Leaves Left yields unheard riches from a variety of sources, including revelatory moments from Drake's first-ever studio session in 1968 and a demo reel recorded during his study at the University of Cambridge, which aligned with his signing to Island Records. (The original album closes out the box.)

Five Leaves Left, overseen by Fairport Convention producer Joe Boyd, was as typical an introduction to Drake's oeuvre as one could imagine. Recorded when he was only 20, the stripped-back, insular songs (augmented with slight embellishments like strings and session players like Fairport guitarist Richard Thompson and unrelated Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson) were exceptionally difficult to compare to anyone else, and the album was generally ignored by audiences. Outside of a John Peel session, Drake's live performances were nearly nonexistent, which further hindered regard as his albums were released, including 1971 follow-up Bryter Layter and 1972's Pink Moon, a deeply intimate effort featuring Drake unaccompanied by any session musicians. Drake, already suffering from depression, withdrew from public life after neither album caught much  attention, and died of an overdose of antidepressants in 1976, when he was only 26. (Audiences eventually discovered Drake's raw, honest music, and when the title track to "Pink Moon" scored a Volkswagen commercial in 1999, sales of his discography ballooned to nearly 12 times their previous average.)

The first disc of The Making of Five Leaves Left offers a demo of sorts recorded at Chelsea studio Sound Techniques, months before the album would be recorded there. This mono reel was preserved by Drake's friend Beverley Martyn, while schoolmate Paul de Rivas held onto a reel recorded during a winter term on campus and offered its contents to Drake's estate for this release. Additional studio outtakes were discovered while Universal Music Group performed an inventory of its tape archive - and with the blessing of Nick's sister Gabrielle, this material offers a new re-introduction to the birth of a British original.

The Making of Five Leaves Left reaches stores on July 25, and can be pre-ordered below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Making of Five Leaves Left (Island/UMR, 2025)

4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1: 1st Sound Techniques Session (The Beverley Martyn Demo) & Alternate Takes, February 1968-April 1969

1. Mayfair (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
2. Time Has Told Me (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
3. Man in a Shed (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
4. Fruit Tree (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
5. Saturday Sun (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
6. Strange Face (1st Sound Techniques Session - March 1968)
7. Strange Face (Rough Mix with Guide Vocal - September 1968)
8. Day is Done (Take 5 - April 1968)
9. Day is Done (Take 2 - November 1968)
10. Day is Done (Take 7 - April 1969)
11. Man in a Shed (Take 1 - May 1968)
12. My Love Left with the Rain (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)

CD/LP 2: Paul de Rivas Reel, October 1968 and Outtakes, November 1968

1. Blossom (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
2. Instrumental (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
3. Made to Love Magic (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
4. Mickey's Tune (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
5. The Thoughts of Mary Jane (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
6. Day is Done (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
7. Time Has Told Me (Cambridge, Lent Term - October 1968)
8. Three Hours (Take 2 - November 1968)
9. Time Has Told Me (Take 4 - November 1968)
10. Strange Face (Take 1 - November 1968)
11. Saturday Sun (Take 1 - November 1968)
12. Fruit Tree (Take 4 - November 1968)

CD/LP 3: Outtakes, December 1968-April 1969

1. Time of No Reply (Take 3 into Take 4 - December 1968)
2. Cello Song (Take 4 - January 1969)
3. Mayfair (Take 5 - January 1969)
4. River Man (Take 1 - January 1969)
5. Way to Blue (Cambridge - Winter 1968)
6. The Thoughts of Mary Jane (Take 2 - April 1969)
7. Saturday Sun (Take 1 into Take 2, April 1969)
8. River Man (Take 2, April / 1969)

CD/LP 4: Original album (issued as Island ILPS 9105, 1969)

1. Time Has Told Me
2. River Man
3. Three Hours
4. Way to Blue
5. Day is Done
6. Cello Song
7. The Thoughts of Mary Jane
8. Man in a Shed
9. Fruit Tree
10. Saturday Sun