On April 11 Nell Smith released Anxious, an entry into the indie pop genre that is both bright and eclectic. Though covered in a sparkling gleam, the debut album comes after Smith’s tragic passing last October in a car accident at the age of seventeen. In her time here she used her unending work ethic, musical talent and vibrant personality to the best of her ability.
At the age of ten, her exuberance from the front row of a concert won her the opportunity to meet Waynen Coyne, frontman of The Flaming Lips. Encouraging her growth as a musician, Coyne kept in touch. The two grew so close that during the pandemic they released an album together. Following Smith’s unique experience of working with an idol, she went into the studio to record what would become Anxious.
As the album begins and each track turns into the next, the instrumentation doesn’t change drastically. Every song features considerable reverb and many have both acoustic and electric guitar. The bass guitar is clearly audible and while it adds to the groove, its lines are never particularly interesting. In “The Worst Best Drug” it’s traded for a bass synth. Ranging in their complexity, this is one of the simpler synth sounds used. Simultaneously sounding 8-bit and fluid, the opening of the title track guides the listener through a digital waterfall to evoke a genuine sense of wonder. Curiosity combines with a chorus of Smith’s voices utilizing different tonalities to place the listener in the world of a child’s imagination.
Smith’s narrative explores her experience navigating adolescence. The teenage perspective is kept intact but strategically avoids the characteristics that makes some pop music unlistenable to people over the age of sixteen. The angst is hidden just enough that this music can be enjoyed by broader audience. She projects images of what it feels like to be on the edge of adulthood. In “Service Song” she sings from the perspective of a mother at wit’s end: “I saw her behind a curtain / stealing smokes right from my purse.” Next to the testing of parents’ patience, another token of this stage of life is the hatred we all have for our first job. “Workin’ at a shitty restaurant / Staring at Sue at table two / I hate you and the way that you chew.”
Most of the songs are more upbeat, but Smith still manages to represent a variety of emotions. These feelings spread across an entire spectrum, as opposed to a binary happy and sad. “Daisy Fields” recounts a trip with an ex, while maintaining the bliss suggested by the title. High pitched recorder and xylophone emphasize the short melody repeated throughout, which presents the conclusion of the relationship as an opportunity rather than a dead end.
Framed within the context of a life taken too soon, the themes that Smith targets are even more impactful. She takes on a perspective far beyond that of a teenager. In thinking like a mother, she was required to consider what the experience of her own mother raising her was like. Her lyrics express beauty and hardship to be two sides of the same coin, in that one can’t exist without the other. As an indicator of who Smith was as a person, this says that she looked at the bigger picture. The worst experiences, like getting dumped, are chances to recenter.
The album showcases incredible maturity for one who was only fifteen when her first album was recorded. Nowadays, first releases often sound like they were recorded in some friend’s basement, but Anxious has the same polish as the newest releases from top artists. Smith’s passing is nothing short of heartbreaking. Her parting gift is not only gorgeous but embodies a young girl’s brilliant ambition.
thecounterpoint.org 