A posthumous Smith album

Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith’s final studio album is expected to be released this fall, the late musician’s father tells a website dedicated to Smith’s music.

“We are beginning the final mixing and production phase in mid-May and are planning for a September or October release,� Gary Smith writes on www.sweetadeline.net.

The father says the family can no longer afford to maintain Smith’s recording studio, so they are looking for a buyer for the entire studio so that the equipment will remain together as Smith had used it, rather than being sold off piece by piece. His instruments will not be sold, Gary Smith added.

Smith’s death last October from stab wounds to the chest was initially ruled a suicide, but the Los Angeles County coroner’s office later said an investigation could not rule out that he might have been killed by someone else. The investigation remains open.

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Randy Lewis