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Elliott Smith's Final Album Nears Completion

added 07 July 2004 at 17.15

According to reports, the album singer/songwriter Elliot Smith had been recording just prior to his death last year, has been completed by two of his associates and may well get a release later this year.

Elliot Smith had virtually completed the record before his death from a (possibly) self-inflicted stab wound to the chest in October 2003, but it was felt, as it stood, it was not suitable for release.

However the record, entitled ‘Songs From A Basement On A Hill’, is now nearly ready for an Autumn release after Rob Schnapf (co-producer of Smith’s 1998's ‘XO’ and 2000's ‘Figure 8’ albums) and Joanna Bolme (Smith's former girlfriend and bassist with The Jicks) tied up the loose ends on the recordings.

The pair were recruited by Smith's family to complete the record, which was originally going to be a double-album, but has now been edited down to a single disc. Schnapf and Bolme have reportedly tried to recreate what the singer would’ve done, referencing Smith’s early demos, written notes and even conversations Smith had with people during his time in the studio.

"Each record is different," Schnapf told the Los Angeles Times. "He's got his melodic sensibility... but he's not doing the same thing again. He's just pushing the boundaries, sending out the probe."

"He always played with form, and that continues,” Schnapf  answered when asked about the record’s sound, “I was always a fan of the littler, direct, intimate thing, and I'm just happy to see that he managed to do both again-- have this crazy big aural thing, and then be able to do a song just him and a guitar. The combination of the two makes both stronger."

"There were little bits in the songs that would come up, and me and Rob would look at each other like, 'Ah, that's an Elliott thing.'” Bolme continued, “Like his little goofy drum fill, or a guitar lick or something. We've had enough experience to know that would be the thing that Elliott would walk over and turn up."

According to exemplary Elliot Smith website www.sweetadeline.net, songs on the album include 'Let's Get Lost' and 'Distorted Reality'  and the music is “Like Elliott’s early work with vocals and guitar only to a new and boundary pushing sound for Elliott’s music.”

Matt Everitt

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