Smith’s fans will enjoy New Moon for the new trove of loving sonic details it offers up, its piercing lyrical moments, and for the little mysteries it presents (like why did Smith leave the song “Either/Or,” included here, off the album to which it gave its name?). The greatest reward of the album, though, is that for those who like to immerse themselves in his music when the mood strikes, like, you know, when your girlfriend dumps you and you feel like giving your life over to drugs, it substantially deepens the pool of good wallowing material.
Among Smith’s fans, there are some who believe that he was ruined, if not doomed, when his song “Miss Misery” was featured in the movie Good Will Hunting and subsequently nominated for a 1997 Academy Award. Trading his wool cap for a white suit and barred from playing sitting down, as was his habit, Smith looked just about petrified as he performed the song at the ceremony (he did not win the statue, as he was up against the Titanic theme). At that time, Smith was working on his fourth album, XO, which I consider his masterpiece, and it seemed like he was poised for greater success than anyone ever imagined for him. Instead, he began his descent into hard-core, all-encompassing addiction and spent much of his last three years as a pitiful druggie, shuffling around Los Angeles in filthy clothes. New Moon gives him the triumphant comeback he never had in life, and it comes out at an appropriate moment, when many indie-rock artists of his era, like Dinosaur Jr., are reforming and trying to recapture their old sound. From beyond the grave, Elliott Smith shines bright.
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