Figure 8

That taken into consideration...I have been a fan of Elliot Smith since around 1998 and, although I've not listened to him so much recently (due to it being three years since he had released an album and the fact I had recently bought several other albums) he has remained one of my favourite songwriters and I had been eagerly looking forward to his sixth album.

When I heard he had died, the first thing I did was stick this (his last and my favourite CD) on and was reminded how wonderful it is.

Despite his reputatation as a sad acoustic troubadour, this album displays a range of talents from the piano-led "In the Lost and Found" to the snarling rocker "Junk Bond Trader" while final song (bar a closing instrumental) "Can't Make A Sound" has shades of Mercury Rev or Flaming Lips in use of effects and production.

Obviously Nick Drake and the Beatles remain reference points but it must be pointed out that Smith was no copyist and I truly feel his best moments could not have been written by anyone else. "Everything means nothing to me" and "Happiness" in particular shine here although, perhaps even more so due to what has happened, it is the quiet melanchony "I'd Better Be Quiet Now" that sticks in the mind and may be used as an urgent comforter on lonely winter nights. The line "If I didn't know the difference, living alone would probably be ok, it wouldn't be lonely..." is to my mind one of the most heartbreaking lyrics ever committed to disc.

For a newcomer to Smith (and whilst some fans feel understandbly differently, I hope Elliot Smith gains a lot of new fans - he always deserved to) this album, along with XO, probably provide the most valuable introductions to his brilliant music.

To return my starting point, I don't agree with buying albums of people just because they've died. Especially when there are lots of reasons to try this superb album.

For me, Figure 8 edges out his other full-production piece, XO, by virtue of not having a bad song amongst its 16 (even the quick instrumental that brings the CD to a close is strangely haunting, and aptly titled "Bye"). Either/Or - the last of his *acoustic* records, lacks the interest of Figure 8, although the songs are, as ever, fragile and poignant.

Figure 8 is one of those albums that when you first hear it, you like the sound, but nothing stands out; however, it grows with repeated listens, and where albums that instantly gratify tend to become irritating, works like this sound eternally fresh. The album is replete with sumptuous melodies, but they are not obvious ones. The pace is mostly gentle, but the songs don't blend monotonously into one and other; however, they do sit wonderfully side-by-side, and it sounds like an album from a man with one vision, rather than a collection of ill-suited sketches.

If I had to pick out one song, it would be Can't Make A Sound, which starts with a whisper but builds to the album's climax proper (before the addition of Bye). It seems apt that a man who took his own life in dramatic circumstances should have ended his final album (work in progress on his sixth album pending) with I'd better Be Quiet Now, Can't Make A Sound, and Bye...

I am incredibly saddened at Smith's demise, and, from a selfish point of view, angry that I will deprived of further releases by a genius of a songwriter (unless, of course, the work in progress was at a sufficient stage for us to hear). But if his death brings him to the attention to the world, and his work gets heard by a larger audience, then that is one crumb of comfort.

This is my introduction to Elliott Smith so I have no background in his earlier, less-lush work, and maybe I'm the better for it. Many reviewers bemoan Smith's selling out to the big music sound, but since I have no basis of comparison, I'm prefectly free to get lost in the spider web of sound spun on "Figure 8". And, perhaps because I've recently had my heart broken, all the lyrics make sense instead of being maudlin or overwrought. I will, of course, reexamine this in a year or so when I feel better, but I have a feeling that this record will stand the test of time.

Standout tracks are the opener, "Son of Sam", a deceptively-jaunty song that sounds almost like Klaatu at a high-school carnival. "Everything Reminds me of Her" and "Everything Means Nothing to Me" are fraternal twins, each with a different sound, but inseperable - they should be played hand in hand in perpetuity. "Somebody that I used to Know" is heartbreakingly simple, deceptively upbeat and captures perfectly the sound of a man on the edge of regaining himself. The rest of the album is wonderful, but these are the tracks that pierced me.

I am grateful to the friend who introduced me to Elliott Smith and I can only hope that, if you buy "Figure 8" after reading this review, you will be grateful, too.