Nearly 30 years after their initial release, home-recording pioneer Linda Smith shares two full-length album reissues ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘I So Liked Spring’ out today, available for the first time on vinyl and streaming!

Recorded 1995, ‘Nothing Else Matters’ captures the tension between daily life and creativity. Despite its homemade origin, the album’s arrangements are sophisticated, reflecting Smith’s evolving recording techniques with a Fostex 8-track machine.

The following year’s ‘I So Liked Spring’ sets the poetry of Charlotte Mew to music, resulting in unpredictable yet melodic songs. Notably, the title track embodies this style, reminiscent of early dream pop.

“‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘I So Liked Spring’ were recorded in the 1990’s but are not of that time in many ways. Inspired by AM radio of the 1960s, post punk of the late 70s/early 80s, and poetry of the early 20th century, both albums represent my attempt to make music in a personal and very individual way using limited means. Now that both albums are being released on vinyl for the first time, they seem to be entering a larger sphere that has no specific time frame, with new listeners who never heard them when they were originally released.

Though vinyl is an old format for music that has (thankfully) returned, for me it has always been the best way to hear new music. While ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘I So Liked Spring’ may contain songs I wrote and recorded years ago, hearing them on vinyl for the first time makes them sound almost new to me, as if someone else created them. In this case, and in these times, the old saying ‘everything old is new again’ seems particularly apt.”

 – Linda Smith