The Drift

Updated on Nov 22, 2023

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Length 68:48 Release date 8 May 2006 Producers Scott Walker, Peter Walsh		Artist Scott Walker Label 4AD

Released 8 May 2006 (2006-05-08) Recorded June 2004 – November 2005 Studio Metropolis Studios, Chiswick, London, and AIR Studios, Hampstead, London The Drift (2006) And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball? (2007) Genres Avant-garde, Experimental music, Art rock, Avant-garde music Similar Scott Walker albums, Art rock albums

Cossacks are scott walker

The Drift is the thirteenth studio album by the American solo artist Scott Walker. It was released on the 8 May 2006 and reached number 51 on the UK Albums Chart. No singles were released from the album. Apart from composing the soundtrack to the film Pola X, the album was Walker's first studio album in eleven years and only his third studio album since the final disbanding of The Walker Brothers in 1978.

Walker composed the songs for the album slowly over the decade after the release of 1995's Tilt, beginning with "Cue" (the longest song to complete), up until the album's recording. An early version of "Buzzers" was premièred at the Meltdown festival on 17 June 2000 under the title "Thimble Rigging". The album was recorded over a period of 17 months at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, London, with orchestra recorded in one day at George Martin's AIR Studios in Hampstead, London. Receiving good reviews from critics, the album was released as an LP and CD in May 2006. The artwork for the album was designed by Vaughan Oliver at v23 with assistance from Chris Bigg and photography by Marc Atkins.

Scott walker at work on the drift 1 of 2

Overview

Walker's first album composed entirely of new material since 1995's Tilt, The Drift forms the second installment of the "trilogy" that concluded with 2012's Bish Bosch. In the years between Tilt and The Drift, Walker's released output comprised a few instrumental tracks on the soundtrack to the film Pola X, a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Threw It All Away" on the To Have and to Hold soundtrack, and "Only Myself to Blame" from The World Is Not Enough soundtrack, as well as a few compilations of previously released material, including the retrospective box set 5 Easy Pieces.

The Drift has been cited by many critics and fans alike as a disturbing and complex album that departs from Scott Walker's previous albums while still remaining true to his experimental roots. French singer Vanessa Contenay-Quinones appears as the voice of Clara Petacci on "Clara".

The sound and subject matter for the album is unrelentingly dark and unsettling, often juxtaposing quiet sections with sudden loud noise to induce discomfort in the listener. Subjects include torture, disease, 9/11, Elvis Presley (and his stillborn twin brother Jesse Garon Presley), and Srebrenica.

Track listing

All tracks written by Scott Walker, except "Psoriatic" (Scott Walker/Bob Carleton).

Personnel

Scott Walker – vocals, guitar, harmonica, sax, sound treatment

Hugh Burns – guitar

Ian Thomas – drums

Mark Warman – keyboards, orchestration, conducting, percussion, woodwinds, sound treatment

Philip Sheppard – orchestration, conducting, cello

Alasdair Malloy – percussion, drums

John Giblin – bass

Steve Pearce – bass

Peter Walsh – sound treatment, sitar guitar, percussion

Andrew Cronshaw – woodwinds, concertina

James Stevenson – guitar

Brian Gascoigne – keyboards, sound treatment

Thomas Bowes – violin

Vanessa Contenay-Quinones – vocals

Beverly Foster – voice

Pete Long – sax

Rohan Onraet – percussion

Lucy Painter – vocals

Rebecca Painter – vocals

Ralph Warman – vocals

Derek Watkins – flugelhorn

Production

Produced by Scott Walker & Peter Walsh

Engineers: Geoff Foster, Peter Walsh

Mixing: Peter Walsh

Songs

1Cossacks Are4:32
2Clara12:44
3Jesse6:28

References

The Drift Wikipedia

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