Smith, Elliott – Figure 8 – 2000

[Roland Bru]

These days, Elliott Smith is mostly famous for being dead, having committed suicide at the tender age of 34. One could argue that the lines “Everything means nothing to me”, repeated several times in the song of the same name is a bit of a giveaway, but at the time this album was quite well received. Of course, Elliott Smith never received as much critical recognition as, say, Wilco, or as much commercial recognition as, say, Coldplay but Elliott moves quite nicely between them: the mix of acoustic and electrical songs with a somewhat experimental twist like Wilco in the early days (before they got too experimental and forgot all about melody and appeal) and the somewhat inward looking lyrics about great subjects that Coldplay is famous for (apart from sounding like U2 light).

So underrated? In a way yes. Elliott Smiths’ Figure 8 (and similar album XO) please your ears, carry the dramatic overtones of the artist no longer being with us and generally appeal to all you lovers of solid song writing. I find his voice somewhat indistinctive, but that may enhance his street credibility as a street poet. Also, while I like the variety, the sequencing makes is less suitable as either party music or a late night romantic cd. It’s too all encompassing, in a way.