A year after his death, Smith's sixth album "From a Basement on the Hill" gains a welcome release
A year after his death, Smith's sixth album "From a Basement on the Hill" gains a welcome release, compiled by one time Smith producer, Rob Schnapf, ex-girlfriend Joanna Bolme (now a member of the Jicks) and the Smith family. Previously known as the creator of sad, introspective and tortured music, Smith delivers his melancholic resignations in a warm, empathetic voice that recall his previous five albums, in particular his breakthrough "Either/Or".
Residing back to the grunge of Heatmiser, "Coast to Coast" opens the album with a bang. The dual drum tracks, courtesy of Steve Drozd of Flaming Lips and Aaron Sperske of Beechwood Sparks, add confusion and tension to proceedings, its hypnotic collage of instruments recall the heavier sound of 'Figure 8' Yet the frail acoustic numbers are also here, the classic guitar picking "Lets Get Lost" and the sad "Memory Lane" recall the whimsical "Miss Misery".
The standout tracks of the album "Pretty (ugly before)", with the help of his backing band and touching backing vocals by Sam Coomes of Quasi, is a heartbreaking look into Elliott Smith's psyche. Swathed in a simple, effective waltzing piano line and translucent vocals, this is Smith at his best. The centre of the album provides the masterful "King's Crossing" that, although slow to start, is an incredibly gorgeous offering. The ethereal vocals and patchy piano twinkling of the first 2 minutes develops into a mix of surreal imagery and haunting observations into the future.
Although perhaps not his most arresting work, "From a Basement on the Hill" illustrates just what a talent we have lost. Without doubt Smith will be regarded as one of the finest singer-songwriters of his generation, and "From a Basement on the Hill" perfectly underlines this.
~T.J. Hart9.
