Album released beyond the grave

Folk-punk singer/songwriter Elliott Smith's final studio album was released Tuesday, Oct. 19. “From a Basement on the Hill” stays true to his music and has provided listeners a heavier sound, taking some of his acoustic hits and recording, by himself, a full band behind it.

"I try to sound like a band," Smith has said of his music, "I always hate it when people call me a singer/songwriter." But that's what he is.

In the words of Smith's A&R man at DreamWorks, Luke Wood, this final album ranges from "phenomenal, experimental soundscapes to the most intimate guitar vocals…he was really having fun experimenting with recording, and as always with Elliott, the lyrics were incredibly poignant, consistent, and beautiful."

The first two albums Smith released, “Roman Candle” and his first LP, “Dead Air” for the Independent Kill Rock Stars label, were a reflection of the growing problems he had with drugs and alcohol. It was believed that Smith had kicked his habits, including his heroin addiction, and quit drinking completely, after attempting to commit suicide. Smith, born Steven Paul Smith (who changed his name because he believed it sounded to "jockish"), emerged from the emotional underground of indie-rock in 1997 with his hit "Miss Misery" from the film “Good Will Hunting” that earned him a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song.

This brought Elliott Smith from the head of an underground indie movement and thrusted him into a world full of mainstream press and lights, the last place he ever wanted to be.

Smith was not your typical rock star - with his autumnal, somberly restrained style, all he wanted to do was make music, and continue hiding in his own world, which was hardly enough for he himself to grasp on to. Creating a sound produced by the emotional plain, he lived on alone where no one else would ever want to explore.

Listening to a tune by Smith, you feel for him but you do not pity him, and that is just how he likes it. His theory interpreted in the words of Wood is as follows:

"How do you continue to motivate and be a true partner to an artist who is gonna want to take turns and do different things, and reach his audience more directly without going through radio or MTV?"

Apparently, Smith had not recovered to the point fans were led to believe. While Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer (as well as occasional backup for Smith), Russell Simins, claims "He seemed to be doing really well lately," while Flaming Lips front man, Wayne Coyne, took a more pessimistic view, claiming to be seeing Smith still fighting with drugs.

"It was nothing but sad," Coyne said of their show with Beck in LA last year when he watched on as Smith got in yet another scuffle with police, "You just sort of saw a guy who had lost control of himself."

Lost control, he had. The lights, the fans, the therapy and the dreams had all built a wall around a scared Elliott Smith. In his own words, from the song "Waltz #2:"

“Here today
Expected to stay
On and on and on…
But I'm tired…
So tired"

So tired, and Elliott Smith, keeping thousands of adoring fans holding their breath for years, frightened by such lines, watched on toward a man who sat in the shadows as best he could for some time, inspiring them with his every, honest breath, took his own life - a knife wound to the heart on October 21, 2003.

Since that dismal day, the investigation involving Smith's death has been reopened. It has been noted that the apparent suicide note left by Smith contains an incorrect spelling of his own first name, "Elliot" with one t. Smith's death, caused by two stab wounds and no hesitation wounds whatsoever, occurred shortly after he and girlfriend Jennifer Chiba got into a fight. Smith's body was found to have cuts appearing to be defensive wounds. Chiba, initially "refused to speak with detectives" following the deaths, according to multiple accounts. The case remains open.

Suicide or murder, the world is now lacking without his voice to be true. Smith's final album, From a Basement on the Hill, released just two days before the anniversary of his death, has a more confident sound than any previous album.

A long way from “XO” and “Figure 8”, “From a Basement on the Hill” provides listeners with a folk-psychedelia sound, being compared to the “White Album”. The album starts off with the song "Coast to Coast" which is a classic choice for a number one track. If you've never heard Elliott Smith, this song with it's mesmerizing vocals and gruff twangy guitar lines, will no doubt catch your attention. In the tune, "Pretty (Ugly Before)" you hear what could be considered Elliott Smith's anthem - a song that contains most every musical influence Smith ever reflected. The strong synth background in "King's Crossing" is strongly reminiscent of The Cars early works. However, "A Fond Farewell" is suitingly the song that will live on in the name of Smith - "A little less than a happy high / A little less than a suicide." If Smith's words cannot move you, you cannot be moved.

Fans of Elliott Smith can only hope that “From a Basement on the Hill” will bring him the respect and admiration Smith deserved his whole life through. Those who do love him will continue to find burrows of comfort within his sadness. From "No Name #2," off his album Roman Candle, we are left with more of Smith's haunting words:

"You're just fine
You'll be just fine
But I'm on the other line
Killing time won't stop this crying"

Sadly, Smith's final attempt will not only go down with a number of other posthumously released albums, but will sadly bid "A fond farewell to a friend."

We miss you Elliott.