'Figure 8'

No lie, my wife went to high school with Elliot Smith. It was during the years he lived in Duncanville, Texas. She later worked for the local newspaper and when Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song (“Miss Misery” from Good Will Hunting) and she wrote a story about him.

So, when he killed himself in 2003 I was absolutely heartbroken. At the time was digging deep into all of his material including the fantastic Figure 8.

I don’t know if it’s a perfect album, but it’s close. Certainly one of my favorites of all time. I felt that Smith met a healthy median between his lower-fi early albums, which are damn near whispered, and his love for melody along with arranging and adding piano and electric guitar. If Smith was ever happy, I don’t know that he was, it had to have been while recording this album.