His breakthrough self-titled release is perhaps his most illuminating and depressing listen, but its classic follow up ‘Either / Or’ peppered more indie pop notes in, and the peppiest moments of 1998’s ‘XO’ sound like the best Beatles or Big Star numbers. Like Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’, there’s a haunting and deeply sad quality to listening to Elliott’s music, as his lyrics of turmoil, self-doubt, destructive tendencies are an eerie, prophetical glimpse into his early death. Smith struggled with drug addiction, depression, and alcoholism issues throughout his life, leading to his untimely demise in 2003 over a suspected suicide (though no deciding verdict has been reached yet). His sound became instantly recognisable, as finger-picked acoustics, deft chord changes, a fragile vocal delivery, and confessional lyricism became the crucial components of his songwriting style.
Rock at the time, but Elliott persevered, quickly developing a healthy following in the club and coffee shop circuits in Portland.
In the era of loud and brash genres like grunge and Britpop, Smith stood out like a sore thumb with his music usually made up of just acoustic guitar and voice. Smith’s first taste of success came with the first pair of releases from cult Portland indie outfit Heatmiser, but he remained a solo artist on the side and achieved greater success with his first two standalone records ‘Roman Candle’ and ‘Elliott Smith’. Though he always considered himself a ‘pop’ musician, Smith was one of the first successful proponents of the indie folk subgenre, spawning hundreds of hundreds of imitators who closely followed his emotive, intimate, and stripped-down take on 90s rock. Elliott Smith is a songwriter who changed music forever through bringing alternative rock and indie sounds into folk music.
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