Elliot Smith - An Introduction To…

I suppose I’m exactly the target market for this album – acquainted with the name, but never having heard his music, this seems the perfect opportunity to, well, introduce myself to Elliot Smith. This short collection of songs seeks to let a new listener understand the many facets of Smith’s career, tragically cut short but rich in what he left behind. Of course, I can’t comment on what should or shouldn’t be included, but the chosen songs do tell a story of a varied career.

The most immediate impression is of the sheer talent Elliot Smith had at his disposal. Across the album, the relatively limited instrumental palette he works with is manipulated to create the most disparate of effects. Classic ‘90s indie-rock balladry (the aptly named ‘Ballad of Big Nothing’) is matched with harrowing, sparse tales of addiction (‘Needle In The Hay’) and even a lovelorn waltz (‘Waltz #2 (XO)’). Apart from anything else, the album successfully twists and turns, changing the pace and keeping the listener from hearing too much of the same thing for too long.

The sheer lasting influence of Smith’s songwriting also becomes quickly apparent, with the current crop of introspective singer-songwriters owing a great deal to his laid-back style, whilst there are shades of the less vacuous, overbearing end of emo here too in the heart-on-the-sleeve songwriting and unabashed, immediately recognisable vocal tones. This, then, is the album’s greatest achievement – this is not simply an introduction to a man and his work, but the importance of what he created, and that makes this a more than worthwhile purchase.