Last year saw Elliott Smith fans mourning the 10th anniversary of the mysterious death of the beloved singer-songwriter, just months after his landmark 1998 album XO celebrated its 15th birthday.
Now diehards of the fallen Nebraskan are waking up to the advent of new posthumous material, but purists may baulk at what they’re receiving in the collection of previously unreleased material: Elliott Smith fronting a collection of harder-edged electronic dance tracks.
Smith’s vocals are featured front and centre on three newly unearthed tracks from EDM producer UUL, the new non de plume of former Soul Coughing frontman and Smith associate, Mike Doughty, who has shared three tracks online, as Pitchfork reports.
According to Doughty, Elliott Smith recorded the vocals a capella in a series of sessions at Sunset Sound Factory recording studios in LA in the late 90s, while he was in the City Of Angels working on what would become his contribution to the Good Will Hunting soundtrack.
After recovering the original session tapes in November last year, Doughty set about setting Smith’s singing to backing tracks of thudding four-fours and heavy dance scores under his UUL moniker, resulting in the three new musical creations – ‘Dog’, ‘Burn’, and ‘The Record’. “I didn’t seek permission to put this out. This is a collaboration Elliott and I began a long time ago, and this is the form we intended.”
All three feature Smith’s distinctively breathy vocals chopped up and reframed, while the former two include a bit of off-mic spoken-word from Smith, while ‘The Record’ also includes lyrics that would inform what would become XO track, ‘Bottle Up And Explode!’.
According to Consequence Of Sound, Doughty says that the new songs aren’t as much a reworking of treasured rare Smith material, but instead produced as an originally intended idea between the two musicians.
“Elliott did the vocals, a capella, specifically for me to slice-and-dice over beats,” explains Doughty. “I didn’t seek permission to put this out. This is a collaboration Elliott and I began a long time ago, and this is the form we intended.”
The UUL dance tracks are the latest in a series of posthumous Elliot Smith releases, including 2007 collection New Moon and 2004’s From A Basement On The Hill, the record the 34-year-old was working on before his untimely death from two fatal stab wounds in the chest (the circumstances of which have left a question mark hovering ever since).
A daring new perspective on a troubled but much-loved indie icon? Or do the new electro dance numbers risk spinning the songwriter’s grave at 180 bpm? Guide your ears towards UUL’s new Smith-starring tracks below and let your heart decide.
