Yes, Bryter Layter is overproduced. The horns often eclipse and cover the delicate fine cracks of Nick Drake‘s songs which are his strongest facet and appeal. But they don’t completely cover the great songs underneath, and Bryter Layter at it’s core is still the sound of an excellent folk artist remaining in the peak of his short-lived songwriting career.

The production weakens this album, but certainly doesn’t ruin it. Rarely does it become too overbearing, like on the track “Northern Boy,” where Drake is joined by a female backing vocalist, a thing any hardcore Nick Drake fan would claim taboo. And they’re right, because she is one of the few elements on here that sound just too out of place and ill-fitting. At times it seems that the horns and such are played over the music, not with it, as if the horns were dubbed over Nick Drake’s original acoustic songs, which only adds to their unnatural feeling.

I still recommend this album, it’s my second-favorite after Five Leaves Left, and the man only has three albums anyway.