Soulful Sunday

BEN KWELLER And THE FLAMING LIPS Get Together For Heartbreaking Ballad ‘KILLER BEE’ For The Late 17 Year Young Talent NELL SMITH

Posted on by JL

Reveries for Sundays

4 May 2025

Artist: BEN KWELLER
Who: Renowned San Francisco-born
singer-songwriter.

Track: KILLER BEE

Last year, highly talented 17-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter
Nell Smith, was hit by fatal fate, when she died in a car crash accident.

A couple of years ago, as a dedicated The Flaming Lips fan she got in contact
with the Oklahoma band and they recorded a Nick Cave covers album together
in 2021, she was just 14. Her solo album Anxious was posthumously released
2 weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Kweller knows the pain of losing a teenage child. His 16-year old son
also passed away after a car accident. It happened two years ago. Via the Flaming Lips,
Ben met Nell‘s family, and afterward he wrote this goosebumps song for her. It’ll be on
his new album Cover The Mirrors, that appears on 23rd May, on his lost son’s birthday.

Heartbreaking.

Instagram – Linktree

FIONA APPLE Covers NEIL YOUNG For Upcoming Tribute LP – Hear Magnific Version Of ‘HEART OF GOLD’

Posted on by JL

Reveries for the laziest day of the week

27 April 2025

A new tribute and charity album, titled
Heart Of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young Vol. 1
will be available from April 25 on.

This immersive LP invites you to journey through a rich tapestry of sound and sentiment, blending beloved classics with fresh interpretations of Young songs that honor his legacy. Volume I features covers by Courtney Barnett, Eddie Vedder, The Lumineers, Sharon Van Etten, Mumford and Sons, Brandi Carlile, and many more.

Proceeds from the album will benefit The Bridge School Of California. An organization dedicated to the educational needs of children with speech and physical impairments.

American songstress and wonderful voice FIONA APPLE
also did a Young one. She chose HEART OF GOLD .

Magnific.

BEN KWELLER Dedicates New Ballad ‘KILLER BEE’ To The Unfortunate 17-Year Old Songstress NELL SMITH

Posted on by JL

13 April 2025


Press

Back in 2021, highly skilled UK-born and US-based, musical teenager NELL SMITH recorded at the age of 13-year an album, named Where The Viaduct Looms with Oklahoma’s eccentric legends The Flaming Lips.

Frontman Wayne Coyne spotted her at one point as she attended several gigs with her father. They got in touch with each other and after Coyne found out that she’s a singer he proposed her to work with the band on a Nick Cave tribute album he already had in mind for some time.


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Last October, the worst happened when Nell died in a vehicle motor crash,
only 17. Her debut LP, titled Anxious was released posthumously last Friday.

Also now, San Francisco songsmith BEN KWELLER has shared a goosebumps ballad, named KILLER BEE. A track from his upcoming 7th full-length Cover The Mirrors. It features backing vocals by The Flaming Lips.

His first new music since the sudden passing
of his 16-year-old son Dorian Zev in 2023.

Kweller: “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. 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.”

Heartbreaking.

WATCH

STREAM

TOUR

Instagram – Linktree

HAIM SISTERS Drop 2nd Single ‘EVERYBODY’S TRYING TO FIGURE ME OUT’ From New Upcoming LP

Posted on by JL

6 April 2025

Band: HAIM
Who: 3 peppy pop sisters
from Los Angeles.

Track: EVERYBODY’S TRYING TO FIGURE ME OUT
This year’s 2nd single following Relationships. Details
of a new album TBA.

Danielle Haim: “Writing it has gotten me through some hard times, and we felt this might be of some use to get our vibes right for this summer! I started writing this after a panic attack I had the night I got home from tour. I was very confused because I was SO SO SO happy about our incredible tour, but something about being alone with myself scared the shit out of me. after a lot of reflecting I realized I’ve let a lot of people try and tell me how I should live my life, but I realized in making everyone else happy, I lost myself. I wrote this as a way to believe in myself again and quit being scared to do what I want. I hope this finds anyone who needs it.”

Who are you?

Instagram – Spotify

EDDIE VEDDER Shows His Love For Living Legend NEIL YOUNG

Posted on by JL

Reveries for the laziest day of the week

30 March 2025

A new tribute and charity album, titled Heart Of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young Vol. 1
will be available from April 25 on. Pre-order info here.

This immersive LP invites you to journey through a rich tapestry of sound and sentiment, blending beloved classics with fresh interpretations of Young songs that honor his legacy. Volume I features covers by Courtney Barnett, The Lumineers, Sharon Van Etten, Mumford and Sons, Brandi Carlile, and many more.

Proceeds from the album will benefit The Bridge School Of California. An organization dedicated to the educational needs of children with speech and physical impairments.


Cover of Vedder‘s solo album ‘Eartling’ – photo by Danny Clinch

Pearl Jam‘s EDDIE VEDDER also shows his love for Young with
a sensitive cover of Needle And The Damage Down from his
1972 LP Harvest.

– NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE –

THUNDERCLAP! Canadian Singer-Songwriter Tantalizes With Riveting Story ‘FORCED TO WALKING’

Posted on by JL

Reveries for the laziest day of the week

23 March 2025

Artist: THUNDERCLAP!
Who: A Niagara Falls performance artist who uses honesty and humility
to develop an almost magical rapport with “every” audience he performs
for. He has released 2 albums so far.

Track: FORCED TO WALKING

Thunderclap: “The song came about one winter years ago when I was walking around in the back parking lot of a mall in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I was feeling lonely & thinking about my life. The cloudy melancholy sunset was coloured in very peculiar hues of browns, bronzes, and greys (as mentioned in the song).

Right there & then I was compelled enough to scribble down the moment… hours later I found myself walking around on some back roads further contemplating what these feelings were all about… walking and thinking, thinking and walking.

It was only a month after I wrote the song where I assembled the proper musicians and
studio engineer to record in my personal workshop on Queen Street in Niagara Falls. It all
came together pretty quickly, and it was the first time I worked with a standup bass player, violinist and even a French horn player that I recently met during that time while she was working in a local Shoppers Drug Mart.”

TUTV: Forced To Walking is an emotive musing orchestrated mainly with acoustic guitar, weeping violins, smooth bass and Thunderclap!’s spellbinding vocals. Also notable for
its intriguing, multi-voiced finale. Overall I hear echoes of Conor Oberst & Bright Eyes.

Compelling composition.

WATCH/LISTEN

STREAM


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Instagram – Linktree

JUSTIN VERNON And BON IVER Present Two New Tasters From Their Upcoming Album

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

17 March 2025


Credit: Graham Tolbert

Justin Vernon‘s band BON IVER are gearing
up for their 5th LP, their first in 6 years.

SABLE, fABLE will be released on April 11th.

Following lead single Everything Is Peaceful Love
Vernon presents two other touchy-feely daydreams.

Vernon: “For the second look into fABLE, it couldn’t be a single; it had to be a double. First, “Walk Home” is a romp where you can’t wait to pull your clothes off fast enough and jump inside bed with your one true lover. And then — the two of singles — “If Only I Could Wait.”
A duet. A bilateral crying question. How long can the two of us hang on to each other?”

– IF ONLY I COULD WAIT –
(Featuring Danielle Haim on vocals)

– WALK HOME –

Instagram – Linktree

MARIANNE FAITHFULL – Hear Gripping Torch Song ‘BURNING MOONLIGHT’ From Upcoming Posthumous EP

Posted on by JL

16 March 2025

MARIANNE FAITHFULL‘s former (legendary) label Decca announces a posthumous
four-track EP, titled BURNING MOONLIGHT. Coming out initially as a limited-edition
vinyl as part of Record Store Day on April 12, the EP will be available worldwide as
a digital EP on June 6.

The songs were inspired by her first two albums, 1965’s Marianne Faithfull and
Come My Way, which were released simultaneously. “It was so unusual to start your
career this way, so we decided to bring the music full circle,” executive producer Andrew
Batt says. “One side of the EP would be inspired by her debut pop LP Marianne Faithfull
while the flip would honor her folk roots on Come My Way.”

Faithfull passed away on January 30, aged 78.

Nicholas Dunbar (her son) said in a statement: “As we grieve the loss of Marianne, we are pleased to announce the release of these songs which she worked on during the year before her death. Marianne lived to create and perform music — it was her driving force and she never stopped. Right up until the end she was looking forward to this release which now completes and celebrates her remarkable artistic career.

Faithfull about the EP at the time of recording: “It’s a good time to look back. It helps
me to remember all the things I’ve done. I can’t say I’m a particularly nostalgic person, but
I am enjoying this period of reflection.”

The title track is a goosebumps ballad. An emotive torch song.
Faithfull‘s lived through voice sounds aged and tired. Quite stirring.


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DOLLY PARTON Shares New Lovey-Dovey Ode ‘IF YOU HADN’T BEEN THERE’ For Her Husband Who Passed Away Last Week

Posted on by JL

Reveries for the laziest day of the week

9 March 2025

At the age of just 20, giant country star DOLLY PARTON married her boyfriend Carl Dean.

Although Parton does not use Dean‘s surname professionally, she has stated that her passport reads Dolly Parton Dean, and she sometimes uses Dean when signing contracts

Dean, who ran an asphalt road and driveway-paving business in Nashville for
decades, shunned publicity. He rarely accompanied his wife to public events.

In 2016 Dolly announced that she and Dean would renew their vows in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. Last week she announced on her social media that Dean had died in Nashville at the age of 82, and wrote this affecting, lovey-dovey ode IF YOU HADN’T BEEN THERE for him. Endearing.

“I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been there/ Holding my hand, showing you care.”

Instagram – Spotify

(Image on top: cover of her ‘Very Best’ album)

VAN MORISSON – The Belfast Cowboy Recorded New Album And Drops First Single ‘DOWN TO JOY’

Posted on by JL

Reveries for the laziest day of the week

2 Mars 2025


Press photo

The ever-grumpy, now 79-year-old Irish legend VAN MORRISON has canned
his umpteenth album, named it REMEBERING NOW and will make all his fans
happy with it from June 13th on.

It’s marked as his return to original music with a rich blend of soul, jazz, blues,
folk, and country. Return? It’s what Van The Man did/does since he was 13. Mind
you, he got mellower and mellower over the years. His masterpieces such as
Astral Weeks, Moondance and Into The Music date from decades ago.

But his most important instrument – his voice – hasn’t aged whatsoever.
It’s a unique one you recognize immediately. Impactfully warm, grippingly
soulful and overwhelmingly powerful.

On the upcoming LP’s first single DOWN TO JOY The Belfast Cowboy (a nickname
the late The Band’s Robbie Robertson gave him once upon a time) does again what
he does for years now. Entertaining our ears with both easy-going and pleasurable
retro musings.

WATCH

STREAM


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Instagram – Tour Dates – All Solo Albums