LOOKAFTERING (EXPANDED) (2LP) | VINYL RECORD (LP)

Vashti Bunyan, Marking the occasion of twenty years since the original release, and coinciding with Vashti Bunyan's 80th birthday, DiCristina is pleased to present Lookaftering (Expanded), a reissue of her legendary second album. This new expanded edition features the original studio album along with a second disc of demos, an alternate take, and a live performance. This edition also comes with a stunning 16-page lyric book featuring a collection of paintings by Vashti's daughter, Whyn Lewis paintings that they both say have closely, and coincidentally, reflected the lyrics of the album. Also included are sleeve notes from Vashti, producer Max Richter, and Devendra Banhart. Originally recorded between 2001 and 2005, the unreleased demos were created at Vashti's home, with Vashti accompanying herself on electric and acoustic guitar along with a host of experimental instrumentation including synths, accordion, piano, strings, pipe organ, harmonium and recorders. The demos offer a more stripped-back sound, with the live version of "Lately," recorded in 2006 at the Echo in LA, offering a pitch perfect performance by Vashti's North American touring band of Gareth Dickson, Jo Mango, Kevin Barker, Helena Espvall, and Kat Hernandez. Listening to the demos and final versions side by side while reading the sleeve notes, and taking in the beautiful new artwork is a wonderful experience. "Lookaftering is some kind of miracle." Uncut "Lookaftering is a quiet prayer for a world left behind, a remembrance of a world that could have been but never was, a Lookforwarding to a world that may yet still be... As ethereal and haunted as these eleven songs may be, they are also rooted in the earthly magic of wisdom born from experience. Something so rare and honest it's nearly otherworldly in it's total human-ness." Devendra Banhart