Fifty years gone and the music still cuts right through. Nick Drake recorded three albums before leaving this world at 26. The debut, Five Leaves Left, appeared in 1969 – and we're only now hearing how it came together. Hold on to your hats.

Nine years of detective work. Tapes surfacing from the most unlikely places. A mono listening reel held by Beverley Martyn for over half a century – Drake's very first session at Sound Techniques, untouched since the day it was recorded. A full reel from Caius College, captured by Cambridge friend Paul de Rivaz, traveling the world in a drawer, forgotten for decades. These are the kind of discoveries that make collectors lose sleep.

This isn't a cash-grab reissue stuffed with every half-baked fragment. Nick's sister Gabrielle made sure of that. What's here tells a story – outtakes, alternate takes, session recordings, all carefully assembled to reveal how Five Leaves Left found its shape. The final disc presents the album as Joe Boyd produced it, mastered by John Wood and Simon Heyworth.

The 60-page book brings insights from Neil Storey and Richard Morton-Jack. Eco-friendly textured paper. Beautiful object.

Drake's influence runs through Liz Phair, Philip Selway, Let's Eat Grandma, Fontaines D.C. – the list keeps growing. But forget the tributes for a moment. This is the source. The quiet room where it all began. A voice that refuses to disappear.

HIGHLY recommended.