Two further albums by Vashti Bunyan.

This one from 1970 ...



and this one from 2007 ...



They're about as close to Folk as I can manage and I'm not at all sure why I like them so much. Whatever. There is something persuasive about the voice - so closely miked the words keep their breath. Listening to Just Another Diamond Day it's Blake and nursery rhymes that come to mind - plus the kind of dark intimations behind Feste's songs. Lookaftering is unnerving for the emotional directness and sweetness of the couple of songs I've heard so far. (Somehow 'tracks' isn't the word - too digitalised. Unless the 'spoor' sense can be unearthed beneath).

You could make comparisons with Joni Mitchell (the early pre-jazz albums especially) and Kate Bush (minus the volume and histrionics) although neither would do her justice. Syd Barrett (the vulnerability), Viv Stanshall (the melancholy string settings), perhaps the more recent stripped-down P.J. Harvey (the step back from The Biz) ... a bit closer yet still not really hitting the essential quality.

Fascinating music - that's for sure.