In her column “Made a Mixtape, Hope You Like It,” Amanda Altarejos ’26 curates a “mixtape” of modern music for older artists. Listen here for a playlist “for nick drake.”
In most of his third and final studio album “Pink Moon,” Nick Drake whispers. You do not even think he will speak — or sing, though it seems that Drake has something to say — because every song begins with the soulful strumming or folksy fingerpicking of the guitar.
He makes you wait.
Listen: His spirit, stuck in his childhood bedroom at 26, comes alive during those first few seconds. The rest of the song dances with it; Drake’s soft voice beckons us to come closer.
Listen: This is not “embarrassed and shy” as “Pink Moon” was described by British music magazine “Melody Maker.” This is a prelude to an end and he spends it in intimacy with the guitar’s sound.
Drake speaks of peace in his music. He feels it. Not as a proclamation, but as a desire for closeness to it. It doesn’t seem to matter to him if we believe he is loud enough or not — he may simply be trying to hear and experience peace himself. I would hope he’d find it through these songs too.
1. “Reaper” by Clairo
“Reaper” begins the same way most of Drake’s songs do — with a drawn out serenade of the guitar. The mood is set; we are nearly at peace. I would like to think that Drake would find solace in Clairo’s first words: “it’s nice to hear your voice again.”
2. “Pier 4” by Clairo
Clairo’s newest album “Charm” offers an enduring serenity threaded through each song. Like “Reaper,” “Pier 4” seems to anchor itself onto the softness of the guitar while also dancing with and speaking to Drake’s spirit. He might have walked “home alone” that fateful night, feeling “different” and wondering “why no one knew him at all.” Clairo turns loneliness into a lullaby in “Pier 4,” bringing a comfort many may wish Drake could hear today.
3. “Susie May” by beabadoobee
Drake whispers, but that is not all. He forces us to decipher his words, to understand that there is a pleasurable distance at which he can present his emotions without them imploding. “Pink Moon,” the last album Drake released before his death, includes songs like “Place to Be,” where he sings of feeling “weaker than the palest blue” — which he must fix because he is older.
Drake’s melancholy in “Place to Be” is deep, but we do not get to face it head-on. In “Susie May,” we are left alone with beabadoobee and her guitar the same way we are left with Drake and his. We must decipher her sadness through Susie May’s the same way we have tried to decipher Drake’s through his nature-centric lyrics.
4. “Moonlight on the River” by Mac DeMarco
I think Drake would appreciate DeMarco’s love for a beautiful guitar. “Moonlight on the River” is soft and sultry; it may bring about a happy, smiling Drake.
5. “Angeles” by Elliott Smith
“Angeles” is an ode to comradery. Drake now owes Smith a drink because Smith also knows how and why we tell stories through another. Angeles is a wink. Drake needs that cheeky I get you.
6. “My Blood” by Current Joys
All of the previous songs are intimate and quiet. They consist of murmurs. It is time for a change: in “My Blood,” the muddled vocals are all too familiar. But sometimes, we cannot bear to hear the sound of our own thoughts. The guitar in this song is not being slammed. It is just loud — loud enough for Drake to try finding peace another way.
Editor’s Note: This article includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.