Anxious

Posthumous record releases will always be charged with emotion but when the release comes from a 17 year-old artist that was just getting started it is devastatingly heartbreaking. Anxious is a mesmerizing selection of songs that explore the highs, lows and uncertainty of teenage life through the eyes of Nell and is the follow-up to Where The Viaduct Looms, her debut collaboration with The Flaming Lips that explored the works of Nick Cave. Nell’s first and only studio recording session at Bella Union’s studio in Brighton at the tender age of 15 was an intense mix of long days with Jack and Lily Wolter expertly teasing out what was really going on in Smith’s mind with the help of Doritos, Fizzy sweets, Coca Cola and inspiration gained by sneaking her into venues to see local bands play. A lot of Nell’s creative drive was rooted in raw teenage emotions; apprehension; love; travel; gratefulness; ambition; and grief. These moods are visited throughout the tracks on the album with an instrumental approach that brings joy into even the darkest of songs.