Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith (1995)

Elliott Smith's self-titled album is his second one. On the debut solo album Roman Candle Smith was still trying to find his sound after his much more rock oriented band Heatmiser. This album already sounds like we've come to know Elliott Smith at his best. There are numerous very strong moments on this album. Songwriting is already fantastic. The sounds are very low-key, with most songs just having acoustic guitars and Smith's trembling vocals, which are already doubled on most of the album, creating a haunted mood to this album. I guess it's because this album was before Smith's breakthrough that came with the film Good Will Hunting that not many people talk about this album when talking about Elliott Smith. It does, however, have some of the best songs of his career. The overall mood of the album is very melancholic, even by Elliott Smith's standards.



Apparently Elliott Smith had tried to kill himself a few times before actually being successful years later. The attempt most people mention is when Smith jumped off a cliff in North Carolina and landed on a tree that softened his fall. This was a couple of years later than this album, but the album cover featuring two falling figures gets a haunting meaning from these events. It doesn't help that there are lots of lyrics about drug abuse on this album. It seems that Smith was suicidal for a very long time and it's very sad that bigger fame took this self-destructive behaviour even further as he couldn't handle being in the spotlight. At least he made some amazing music out of his depression.

The album starts with Needle In the Hay, which has been hailed as one of Smith's greatest songs. I wouldn't go that far, but the dark and intimate song really sounds beautifully bleak. This song was released as a single before the album. Christian Brothers features doubled acoustic guitars and subtle drums in the background. The guitar-picking in this song is excellent and Smith's melancholic vocals are heartbreaking. Clementine has a lighter touch in the melody, with not quite as many minor chords. This song reminds me of many of the songs on his following album Either/Or. Southern Belle is one of my all time favourite Elliott Smith songs. The guitar playing is just amazing and there's beautiful sadness in the melodies of this song. The ending of the song specifically is full of anguished beauty. Single File is the first song on the album that features an electric guitar. It gives the otherwise pure folk song some country influences. Coming Up Roses has melodica in the background if I'm not mistaken. It's crazy how good Smith can make these simple instrumentations sound. Satellite has some excellent guitar picking in a waltz rhythm. There are similar songs later in his career and I'm always amazed by his talents, how easy he makes that sound even though playing this way is extremely difficult. Alphabet Town has some harmonicas and almost a groovy tempo in the acoustic guitars. The melody of this song is almost psychedelic in its strangeness. St. Ides Heaven is a proper tearjerker in the best possible way. I'm almost brought to tears just by listening to the chorus, because it's so incredibly beautiful. And to think that all of this is just made with acoustic guitar and doubled vocals. Good to Go has some hope in the melody and toned down sounds, which would make it a great last song for the album, but that's not the case here. The White Lady Loves You More is another example of Smith's amazing guitar-playing skills. The album ends with The Biggest Lie, which almost like Good to Go, has some hopeful tunes, but when you listen to the lyrics, the song is actually quite crushing.

There's a video for Coming Up Roses. This black and white simple video shows Smith wearing ridiculous space-style sun glasses and playing the song with two other people in drums and mellotron. Nothing really happens in the video and the mood even seems a bit awkward, but it's just great to see him perform.

I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again. Elliott Smith is one of my favourite musicians. He is definitely among the musicians who have influenced me the most and whose music relates to many of my personal experiences. I remember painful and happy memories from my life through his music. I've always thought that his lyrics are fantastic in their flexibility to fit in to anything you might be going through in your life.

Listen to the album on Spotify.