Vashti Bunyan – Lookaftering (2LP)

Album Info Hide Show Artist: Vashti Bunyan Album: Lookaftering Released: Worldwide, 2025 Tracklist: 1 Lately 2 Here Before 3 Wayward 4 Hidden 5 Against The Sky 6 Turning Backs 7 If I Were 8 Same But Different 9 Brother 10 Feet Of Clay 11 Wayward Hum 12 Lately (Live, The Echo, Los Angeles, 2006) 13 Here Before (Demo, 2005) 14 Wayward (Alternative take, 2005) 15 Hidden (Demo, 2002) 16 Against The Sky (Demo, 2002) 17 Turning Backs (Demo, 2004) 18 Turning Backs (Demo, 2003) 19 If I Were (Demo, 2001) 20 Same But Different (Demo, 2005) 21 Brother (Demo, 2002) 22 Feet Of Clay (Demo, 2002) Info About Buying Vinyl From Our Record Store We are a small independent record store located at 211 High St, Preston in Melbourne, Australia (North of Northcote, between Thornbury & Reservoir) We buy and sell new and used vinyl records – if you have a collection you’d like to sell please click here . We ship Australia wide for a flat rate of $10 for standard shipping or $15 for express post. Free Shipping for orders $150 and over. You can also pick up your order in store, just select Local Pickup at the checkout. We also ship internationally – prices vary depending on weight and location. We ship vinyls in thick, rigid carboard mailers with a crushable zone on either side, and for extra safety we bubble wrap the records. In stock vinyl is usally shipped next business day, please check the availability field at the top of the product page to see whether the record is currently in stock or if it is available from the supplier as well as estimated shipping times. If you order an in stock item together with a pre order or back order (listed as available from supplier rather than in stock) then the order will be shipped together when all items arrive. If you would like the in stock items shipped first please place two separate orders or contact us to arrange shipping items separately. We are strongly committed to customer satisfaction. If you experience any problems with your order contact us so we can rectify the situation. If the record arrives damaged or doesn’t arrive we will cover the cost of replacing or returning the record. If you change your mind you have 30 days to return your record but you must cover the cost of returning it to the store. You can contact our Melbourne record shop at (03) 9939 3807 or at [email protected] Happy Listening! Description Hide Show Vashti Bunyans Lookaftering arrives like a letter you thought went missing in the post and then somehow shows up exactly when you need it. After the long silence that followed her 1970 debut Just Another Diamond Day, she came back in 2005 with a set of songs so unguarded and spare that they feel more like rooms you wander into than tracks you play. FatCat Records let the quiet speak, and producer Max Richter keeps the palette intimate, all small details and soft light, so the voice at the centre can do its work. That voice sounds nearly unchanged, fragile yet steady, edged with air. Bunyan doesnt push it. She lets it carry more with less, which is why these songs keep rewarding repeat listens. Lookaftering grew out of a period of rediscovery. Her debut had become a cult touchstone around the turn of the millennium, and younger artists sought her out. Earlier in 2005 she lent her voice to Animal Collectives Prospect Hummer EP, which turned a new wave of listeners her way. Here, that renewed attention becomes its own quiet circle. Richters piano, harmonium and subtle strings feel like a measured conversation with her earlier work, not a remake of it. The opener, Here Before, sets the tone with its simple guitar figure and a melody that settles in quickly. There is a calm acceptance in the lyric, a sense of time telescoping, and then Joanna Newsoms harp slips in with bright, plucked notes that sound like sunlight across water. Newsoms presence is one of the albums lovely surprises, never grandstanding, just giving the songs a new colour that sits perfectly beside Bunyans guitar. Wayward is the heart of the record. You can hear the quiet ache of travel and return, and the strings that curl around the vocal feel almost like a hand on the shoulder. Robert Kirby, who arranged for Nick Drake and worked on Bunyans first album, contributes arrangements that keep everything close to the floor, no showy swells, just light emphasis at the right moments. Against the Sky rides a small, pulsing rhythm and a soft drone that gives the lyric room to float. Lily Pond is over almost as soon as it begins, a tiny landscape sketch that still manages to leave a mark. Part of the charm here is the community that gathered around her. Devendra Banhart appears with a gentle harmony and guitar lines that drift rather than tug. Adem Ilhan lends quiet support. Kevin Barker offers patient fingerpicking. Otto Hauser keeps the percussion minimal, just enough to keep a pulse. Richter understands that the best production choice is often to back away. You hear wood and breath and fingertip, and nothing blurs into gloss. Lookaftering was greeted warmly on release, and it is easy to hear why. It does not try to compete with the loudness of the day. It gives you the kind of intimacy you usually get only at home, late at night. It also reframes the story around Bunyan. The cult aura of Just Another Diamond Day had turned her into a myth for crate diggers and folk revivalists, but this album shows an artist very much present. The songs look inward and outward at once, and they avoid nostalgia. Same But Different, for example, turns a simple refrain into something quietly devastating. Hidden hushes the room. Wayward Hum closes the album almost like a benediction. On record, this music breathes. The space in the arrangements and the soft dynamics mean the Lookaftering vinyl feels made for a late spin when the house is still. If youre browsing a Melbourne record store and see it tucked beside her debut, it will likely call to you for the same reason the best folk records do. It asks for attention and gives back calm. For collectors, tracking down Vashti Bunyan albums on vinyl has become part of the fun, and this one deserves the shelf space. If you prefer to buy Vashti Bunyan records online, keep an eye on care-minded shops across the UK and the many stores specialising in vinyl records Australia wide, as copies tend to vanish quickly. It is hard to overstate the grace in these 2005 recordings. Lookaftering doesnt chase trends, it trusts the song. That trust is contagious. You go in expecting a quiet return and come away with something that feels lived in and true. For anyone deep into folk, for anyone who has fallen for a Vashti Bunyan vinyl before, this is the album that turns a legend back into a person, and somehow makes both sides feel even more precious. Product Reviews Hide Show Write a Review