As cliché as it sounds, musicians like Elliott Smith do not come around as often as we would hope. Throughout the 1990’s, Smith had taken the indie rock community by storm; his soothing vocals and harmonies so intricately melding with such honest, meticulously crafted lyricism. Every once in a while we hear the expression “this guy never made a bad album,” but for Elliott Smith, this was taken one step further. The solo artist demonstrated a transcendent knack for consistency from the very beginning, with every single record meeting or surpassing expectations. Until 1998, when Smith’s fourth full-length release,
XO hit the stores, he had relied on hauntingly raw production and simple acoustic work to carry out his sincere and intensely personal songwriting.
XO was a shift, not necessarily in quality, but the sound that so adamantly defined Elliott Smith. By then, it was already established that Smith was a mastermind at creating soulful, stripped-down pieces, but many were pessimistic of his musicianship.
XO was Elliott’s first stab at a “full” sound; not only disclosing his proficiency at several instruments, but also his capability of successfully arranging a cohesive collection of songs. Needless to say, things were changing.
With
Figure 8, the world was beginning to lighten up for Elliott Smith; the music was suddenly not as dreary and regretful as it had been before. Smith was unwinding in such a way that we were discovering an entirely different being, and a different variety of beauty. There is something irrefutably hopeful about
Figure 8, whether it is conveyed through Smith’s lyricism, sweeping harmonization, or vibrant musicianship. Those factors are enough to present the record as Elliott’s most accessible release to date, with potential for growth after the initial listens. Accessibility proves to be one of the record’s greatest strengths, which is demonstrated right from the get-go with the explosive piano-driven energy of “Son of Sam,” an infectious and tremendous indication of the album’s sound. Tracks such as “Junk Bond Trader” and “L.A.” are quick to follow suit, possessing that vivacious liveliness that we are not used to hearing with Smith. The instrumentation relies a great deal on Elliott’s keyboard skills; a quite underrated asset in his arsenal, to carry out this fresh and dynamic sound. Guitar leads and the occasional strings only contribute to the contagious atmosphere, the latter melding brilliantly on both the stripped down pieces and the effervescent ones. The orchestration brings even more firepower to an already charming track in “Color Bars,” where Smith’s harmonization and poignant lyricism seem to paint a vivid picture of its affectionate freedom.
“Everyone wants me to ride into the sun, but I ain’t gonna go down. Laying low again, high on the sound.” Smith does not cease to deliver some of his typical bare bones gems, working in perfect cohesion with the “Junk Bond Trader’s” of the
Figure 8. The tandem of “Everything Reminds Me of Her” and “Everything Means Nothing to Me” are excellent cuts in this regard, the former serving as a tragic lament pertaining to a lost relationship. These types are a much more difficult to locate in
Figure 8 than they had been in the past, but seem to be that much more effective due to this.
With
Roman Candle,
Elliott Smith, and
Either/Or, Elliott Smith showed us despair and regret, but with
Figure 8 he is revealing the light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t get me wrong, there are elements of his previous work scattered throughout the record, but this does not sacrifice what is a very hopeful feeling that the album portrays, with every burst of vivacious energy and every quiver of Smith’s idiosyncratic vocal delivery.
Figure 8 is uplifting in such a way that you just seem to melt in its buoyant aura, encountering tracks that are just as infectious as the last. Elliott Smith’s fifth full-length release is quick to disclose his instrumental prowess that had been concealed for so long prior to
XO, but is a distinctive addition to an already inconceivable resume. Maybe it is just the season speaking, but
Figure 8 is pop perfection.
