Posthumous releases on tap from Drake, Buckley

NEW YORK (Billboard) - As Elliott Smith's "New Moon" CD hits shelves this week, he's not the only lamented singer-songwriter whose material is generating posthumous releases.

Well after their untimely deaths, Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley continue to inspire new generations of fans, and their catalogs continue to grow.

Olympia, Wash.-based indie label Kill Rock Stars is releasing "New Moon," a two-disc set of primarily unreleased material on May 8. Smith, who was found dead in his Los Angeles home in October 2003 -- in a case that remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department -- recorded the songs between 1994 and 1997.

Drake's canon will be expanded with the June 19 release of early recordings on "Family Tree," via

Tsunami Entertainment/Fontana. Buckley, who drowned 10 years ago this month, will be back in the spotlight with the May 22 release of "So Real: Songs of Jeff Buckley" (Columbia/Legacy).

A reissue of the 1986 Drake boxed set "Fruit Tree" will arrive later this year, with the addition of the documentary "A Skin Too Few."

Drake, who battled depression throughout his life, overdosed on antidepressants in 1974, at 26. The folk artist left behind only three official studio releases and became a cult favorite. In 2000, the title track to his 1972 album "Pink Moon" was used in a Volkswagen commercial, spurring further interest. That set has gone on to sell nearly 329,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Meanwhile, Buckley's "So Real," compiled by his mother, Mary Guibert, offers a mix of studio and live tracks plus a handful of rarities, including a previously unreleased cover of the Smiths' "I Know It's Over."

According to Guibert, there still may be two or three albums worth of material worth releasing at a future date, like a set of Buckley's live radio performances from throughout the world. A live DVD is in the works, comprising Buckley's various live TV performances of nearly all the songs from "Grace," as is the DVD release of the documentary "Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley" (directed by Nyla Bialek Adams and Laurie Trombley).

Reuters/Billboard