AR: XO

Elliott Smith - XO (1998)

This is the acoustic indie songsmith's major label debut (on Dreamworks SKG, leaving Kill Rock Stars) after being thrust into the limelight with the Oscar nominated "Miss Misery" off the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. Not a whole ton changed in the transition, and if anything he took brilliant advantage of the tech and cash available in the big time - XO has a brilliant sheen that invariably draws "Beatlesque" descriptions, but it does so without sacrificing his somber but melodic songcraft along the way. The album also retains multiple vocals tracks, all from Smith himself, and many acoustic tracks, also all played by Smith, giving the whole operation a rich, haunting feel in addition to the lush strings / piano and such added by the now affordable studio musicians.

XO is a decided exercise in juxtaposition, with catchy tunes and upbeat sing-alongs - there's a pair of WALTZES, for cripe's sake - peppered with dark lyrics of the general level of despair you might expect from someone who reportedly attempted suicide multiple times throughout its recording (Smith, terribly, would succeed a few years later, leaving us with yet another soul-crushing tale of depressive genius). The lines regarding death and dark thoughts are naturally colored by this context, as are the occasionally saccharine "fucks" and "shits" that crop up on occasion - that is a weird feature of this album, that sweet voice with all its angry cursing. The irony drips a little too loudly, methinks. The overall feel, still, manages to be that of crystal vocal beauty, and it's a sucker punch of sorts when it occurs to your consciousness that those honey-dripping harmonies aren't exactly expressing smiles.

The opener, "Sweet Adeline," is a descending guitar-riffed waterfall of a song that slowly crescendoes, nicely taking the quiet, late night initial notes to an exuberant chorus by its end. The song is timelessly well put together, the sort of song that evokes thoughts of its having been chiseled out of the air rather than putting together - all of which is to say that it sounds very natural. It's followed by the exquisite, baroque "Tomorrow Tomorrow," which sounds like an update / upgrade on the Don McLean catalog. Next comes the aforementioned "Waltz #2 (XO)," a well-executed toe-tapper, and one that sits just on the right side of the schmaltzy line. Yes, an unschmaltzy waltzy. Shut up.

"Baby Britain" makes sure the schmaltz line is a dot to you and borders on a showtune; again, whatever you might find irritating about it tends to be balanced by the lovely timbre involved. And this is probably the ultimate shortcoming of the disc - for all of Smith's dark poetry, there's something that's a little too poppy about a number of the tracks that makes this one best for occasional listens, lest the heart-on-sleeve emotivism get too irksome.

There are plenty of other highlights - "Independence Day" is sort of a slinky alt-folk mid-tempo gem, and "Bled White" gives Smith a driving rocker of a memorable tune. "Amity" manages to be one of the more annoying choruses in the history of indie rock (to later be challenged by this same album's "Question Mark"), but that annoyance is balanced by the could've-been-an-alt-rock-radio-hit "Bottle Up and Explode." The album closes on its most obvious Beatles homage, an a cappella ballad (that sounds strikingly like the sans-instrument "Because" take on Anthology III) called "I Didn't Understand." This one also contains lines about "such a fucking joke" that jar unnecessarily; I get the juxtaposition already, and the vulgar language against harmony detracts rather than enhancing the effect. Still, it's quite pretty, and a good bring down for the album.

I ended up complaining more in this review than I anticipated, so just to clarify - XO is a beautiful album despite all this, and indeed, ES is every bit the talent that we should be crushed to have lost. A lot of the earnest pop on here just gets to be too much for me, I think, and so as much as all the talent balances it, I find myself souring on this disc after too many listens. The album's also a bit uneven, and it's easy to forget the less stellar moments when the opening tricks pop to mind. So it's worth a listen, but be prepared to stomach some overpop along with the quiet, luscious goodness.

Status: Recommended (solid)
Nyet's Fave: "Tomorrow Tomorrow"