David and I used to half-joke that, when we're 30, all we'll listen to is Elliott Smith (a designation including ES himself but also using him as shorthand for a certain kind of music); well now, not yet 30 but here we are - Elliott Smith indeed. I've listened to "Waltz #2" a lot over the years, but on my first proper listen to XO, while I pricked my ears up at that one, it was much deeper into the record, at the appearance of a mournful electric guitar figure, that I found a thought fully formed in my mind: "oh, glory". Melodramatic yes, but that's how the response came to me - and damn it, it is a glorious moment.
That moment came about midway through "Bottle Up And Explode!" - it's still one of my favourites, but the effect was in no small part due to its positioning after the sparenesses of what comes before, lines upon lines of Smith's acoustic guitar and expressive but unadorned singing, embellished unobtrusively by minor chamber-pop elements, wrapped up into little two or three minute songs. So far, I like this album rather than loving it, but there's a real charm and piquancy to it, not to mention (in light of his biography) an incipient (well, more than partly realised) sorrow.
