By no means new, but Elliott Smith just feels oddly fitting music for the weather around here lately. Dark skies that promise rain but sometimes just brood for the length of an afternoon. 'New Moon' is not infused with the sullenness of Either/Or, and neither is it (relatively) upbeat like XO. For a compilation of demos and b-sides, half-realised ideas, it is probably apt that New Moon is often somewhere in between.
Unlike your usual collection of b-sides, however, New Moon is consistently as good as anything Elliott Smith released while he was alive. Most tracks on this 2-cd compilation were written in the early days of his short career, and do not yet carry the burdensome intonations of death, so prevalent in 'From a Basement on the Hill'. Some of the tracks glow with what approximates to warmth, or unbridled gaiety in Elliott Smith terms. 'Thirteen', not originally written by him, is a charming number about young love, has Elliott Smith crooning 'Would you tell me what you're thinking of/Would you be an outlaw for my love'. It had me in disbelief for a while, but once I got beyond that it grew to become one of my favourites. I think he was incapable of writing a song like that himself. The closest he comes is probably on 'See You Later', where he goes 'I got a choke chain/made out of nitrate/to keep your memory down', so you see, not a cheerful man.
There is also an early version of 'Miss Misery', the song he won an unlikely Grammy for. I like this version a lot better, breathy vocals, audible fretboard slides and all. The concluding line goes "cause it's alright/ some enchanted night I'll be with you", as opposed to what appeared on the released version, "do you miss me/ Miss Misery, like you say you do", which was really pretty lame.
Intermittently, Elliott Smith appears at the other end of the spectrum, in Riot Coming he is at once wavering and frustrated. Typically, he goes out with 2 guitar parts produced on a multi-track, whispery on the verse and wailing on the chorus. On this particular track he never sounds comfortable with the transitions, it's as if he isn't ready for his own anger.
Elliott Smith is one guy who sparks a lot of postulating, conspiratorially about the cause of his death (I've heard some pretty bad theories), but it is his body of work, neatly summarised in 'New Moon', which deserves the most comment. The formula to an Elliott Smith song doesn't sound complicated in the least - a couple of guitars, multi-tracked vocals, a minor key, a few lines about pills and stabbing your own heart, and yet, I haven't heard another musician like him. Who do you know can sing lines like "I'm a first timer/wishing I was someone else/when I see you by yourself", and sound perfectly sombre while at it? That's a real talent. 5 years after his death, his songs retain the power to inspire, comfort and unsettle. Sometimes when I'm alone with his voice in my head, it feels like he's beside me.
you toss an empty beer
not really as composed as you appear
eyes circling inside
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