Vashti Bunyan

Thanks to the popularity of a new wave of neohippie songwriters whom hipsters can adore—Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart—some of their obscure influences are returning to the footlights. The whole English psychedelic-folk genre of the late 1960s has been a hot pocket for obsessive vinyl collectors for years and years, as many of its quirkier artists simply slipped under the radar and stayed there until some writer from U.K. revivalist mag Mojo happened by for tea.

But as surely as Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” became the soundtrack for a Volkswagen commercial, other less-celebrated (and still breathing) performers would enjoy a second chance. So it is with Vashti Bunyan. Her 1970 debut, Just Another Diamond Day, recorded with members of Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band, came and went with scarcely a blink from the public. Perhaps it was too pure for its own good: Bunyan, who had been writing and playing music since 1963, set show business aside, moved to the country and never looked back.

Banhart’s devotion, and rising star, gradually sparked Bunyan’s interest in performing again, first as a guest vocalist (for Banhart, and Animal Collective) and then, on her second album: 2005’s Lookaftering. Remarkably, Bunyan sounds little changed. Her songs take on the deeper resonances of life’s experiences, but her voice is not much less feathery or delicate. If she began her career as a wide-eyed phenomenon, she renews it as a bit of a sage—flutes, harp strings and all. Somewhere, the fairies are smiling.—Steve Dollar