Late Flaming Lips collaborator Nell Smith’s posthumous debut solo album, Anxious, has been announced by her label Bella Union. Ahead of its release on April 11th, you can stream the title track below.
At the time of Smith’s passing in a car accident last October, the 17-year-old artist was preparing to release Anxious. Made in Brighton with Jack and Lily Wolter of Penelope Isles, the album features some songs that had been in the works since she was 12. The LP also includes three songs Smith co-wrote with Canadian folk band Shred Kelly in her hometown of Fernie, British Columbia.
Anxious follows Where the Viaduct Looms, Smith’s 2021 collaborative Nick Cave covers album with The Flaming Lips. “It is still very painful when I realize Nell is gone,” Wayne Coyne said in a statement about the new project. “I keep thinking I’ll check my text messages from her. I’m sure she has a new drawing or new piece of a song or a new photo of her cat… and then I remember she is gone.”
Coyne continued, “Now when I’m listening to her singing these songs there is a brief fantastical joy. Her voice hits the ear, the ear tells brain this is the sound of love, the brain lets the mind fly through the billions of connections it has with Nell’s life… but as it flies it also flies to her death… there is something holy that happens now.”
Indeed, “Anxious” is an upbeat slice of psych-pop in which Smith expresses her love of music as a way to cope with anxiety. “I’m okay today/ I think I’ve made a turn,” she sings at one point. Watch the music video below.
All profits from Anxious will go directly to the Nell Smith Memorial Fund, which honors her legacy by supporting and nurturing the artistic growth of emerging musicians. Read more about the fund here and donate at GoFundMe.
Anxious Artwork:
Anxious Tracklist:
01. Anxious
02. Daisy Fields
03. Bubba
04. The Worst Best Drug
05. Service Song
06. Boy in a Bubble
07. Splash
08. I Know Nothing
09. Billions of People
10. Split in the Sky