This is a heavy one. Last year, Nell Smith, a prodigious young Canadian musician who'd collaborated with the Flaming Lips, died in a car accident. She was just 17. Singer-songwriter Ben Kweller knows about that kind of tragedy. In 2023, a car accident also took the life of Kweller's 16-year-old son Dorian. Next month, on what would've been Dorian's 19th birthday, Kweller will release his new album Cover The Mirrors, his first since he lost his child. It'll include a song that Kweller wrote for Nell Smith and recorded with the Flaming Lips, Smith's favorite band.
What can you even say about something like this? It's an amazing act of empathy to make music for somebody else's lost child when you're still mourning your own. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne put Kweller in touch with Nell Smith's family, and they've all been working through their losses together. The existence of the song "Killer Bee" feels more important than the song itself. But the song is beautiful -- an aching power-pop ballad with some echoes of the Beatles' "Across The Universe." Here's what Kweller says about it:
Today we release the song "Killer Bee" in memory of Nell Smith. Nell was a gifted artist who marched to the beat of her own drum. Like my son Dorian, she was taken from us out of nowhere, driving alone, freak car accident, 17 years old. Amidst the chaos, Wayne [Coyne] connected me and Liz with Nell’s parents in hopes that we might be able to shed some light on their journey ahead. Since then, Liz and I have spent hours with Jude and Rachel, getting to know each other and trying to make sense of it all. Though neither of us knew each other’s child, we’ve discovered how similar these two angels were during their time here on earth. Community is one of the only reasons Liz and I are still standing today. Grief makes us feel isolated and the weight seems too heavy to carry alone. Community reunites and lifts us up. Love on your people today and every day.
Kweller shared a solo demo of "Killer Bee" last year, and now he's released the version where he's backed by the Flaming Lips. Actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays bass, too. The single's cover art is a self-portrait that Nell Smith painted. Listen to the song below.
Cover The Mirrors is out 5/30 on Noise Company, and we've already posted the lead single "Optimystic," the Waxahatchee collab "Dollar Store," and "Depression," which Kweller recorded with Jason Schwartzman's Coconut Records alter-ego. Read our 2023 interview with Kweller here.
