Posthumous albums are at all times a fragile proposition, however particularly for Nell Smith. Maybe finest identified for her ongoing collaboration with The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne that started when she was solely 12 years previous, Smith was within the means of writing and recording her solo debut when she died in a automobile accident at 17. That album, Anxious, has now been launched by Bella Union (run by the Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde) and, when getting ready to take heed to it, I was anxious. How do you hear the final work of a musician whose profession was solely starting with out being overwhelmed by unhappiness?
Properly, seems Nell Smith made it straightforward by crafting an album overflowing with optimism, magnificence, and—most of all—risk. Anxious is a group of teenage hopes, fears, and feelings, however at all times expressed with a shiny, “Why not?” vitality of experimentation. Suppose Regina Spektor fronting The Flaming Lips and also you’ll be shut—however nonetheless not fairly at Smith’s indie pop sound. Every track finds Smith taking part in with quite a lot of textures and sounds… after which saying “sure” to all of them. The consequence doesn’t really feel overworked or messy, although. Smith’s honest lyrics maintain all of it grounded in actual, living-in-the-moment feelings, however much more than that: Anxious feels enjoyable. Like, enjoyable enjoyable. Smith’s love of music is simply that infectious.
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Take the album’s lead single and title observe, which begins with a distant drum and twinkling synth earlier than a driving guitar kicks in, adopted by Smith’s beautiful voice, then horns and whispering background vocals, after which much more of all of the above. A track might collapse underneath the load of all this, however as an alternative, it coalesces right into a witty, poppy have a look at one’s future. Her chorus, “My mum says it’s only a section / However I’m older now,” reveals a songwriter who’s sufficiently old to be intelligent but additionally conscious sufficient that cleverness received’t erase her panic.
Specializing in these sorts of gorgeous, placing sonic contrasts—comfortable and onerous, sparse and busy—continues all through, and is Smith’s biggest energy. “The Worst Finest Drug” captures the swooning pleasure and addictive pull of past love by mixing glowing piano with moody synths for a HAIM indie-meets-R&B quantity. Innocence and heartbreak collide on “Daisy Fields,” as Smith layers looping guitars atop childlike chants. The daring proclamation of affection on “Billions of Folks”—“7.92 billion folks, I select you”—might sound easy, however is balanced by the collage of environmental sounds and voices that jut out and in, as if reminding you that discovering one individual to like in our crowded world truly is spectacular. On first look, this might all appear nearly too whimsical, besides that it in the end feels pure, like a teen merely exploring.
And within the uncommon second when Smith does go sparse, on “Service Tune,” it instructions your consideration and highlights her vocals’ ethereal magnificence. A lot in order that one might argue that her voice is powerful sufficient—each vocally and lyrically—that these songs would work with out all of the layers of accompaniment.
However then it wouldn’t be Nell Smith. Many artists, particularly grownup ones, can create an intimate, fairly album. Solely a teen within the throes of her first full dive into creating music would accomplish that a lot on each single track. This ardour retains the album feeling like a debut and never a memorial. Positive, you may’t assist feeling heartbroken by what might’ve been, however Smith’s music is so energetic and unafraid that she nonetheless feels alive in her songs.
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