She and her family had moved from Leeds to Calgary, where she first saw The Flaming Lips at the Sled Island. Three years on, Where The Viaduct Looms arrives. Coyne chose Nick Cave because Nell didn't know him and wouldn’t have preconceived notions as to how to sing the songs. A Canadian singer/songwriter with a guileless voice, Nell Smith made an impressive debut when she was just 14 years old with 2021's Where the Viaduct Looms, an album of Nick Cave covers featuring the Flaming Lips as her backing band. Smith had been seeing The Flaming Lips since she was 12 and was noticed stage-side by frontman Wayne Coyne as she sang along with their songs in a parrot outfit. When a planned trip to record with the band in Oklahoma had to be cancelled due to covid Coyne suggested Nell record some Nick Cave songs and email them to Oklahoma to be backed by the band. Coyne soon began to notice the kid in the parrot suit and sang a David Bowie cover directly to her at the show in Calgary, with Nell singing every word back.Ī musical bond formed with Coyne staying in contact with Nell and her father Jude as she learned to play guitar, while their creative relationship began to flourish when she started to write her own songs. Nell had already attended several Lips shows and was a regular at the front of the stage, dressed in a parrot costume and screaming out the band’s songs. This inspiring and heartwarming story begin when Smith, originally from Leeds (UK), moved to Canada and first met Wayne Coyne at the age of 12 at The Flaming Lips’ headline show at the Sled Island Festival, Calgary, in 2018 with her family. REVIEW: A 14-year-old girl singing with a bunch of dudes four times her age might sound like an odd proposition, but the way it came about is even stranger. The album was mastered by Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios. Where the Viaduct Looms comprises nine Nick Cave cover versions with vocals and instrumentation by 14-year-old Nell Smith and instrumentation and production by The Flaming Lips.
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