Elliott Smith’s ‘Figure 8’: Still on loop twenty five years later

It is 1969 and the Beatles are making an album. It is to be their last one. It is to be named Abbey Road. It is to be grand, sumptuously produced and a culmination of their artistic achievements over the past 10 years. What does Elliott Smith have to do with it?

25 years on, Figure 8 is Elliott Smith’s Abbey Road. It is both a culmination of his artistic ambitions and skills, and also an album which straddles the superb qualities of all of his previous albums. Figure 8 is Abbey Road, in its creation as well as its sound. Figure 8 was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, using much of the same equipment. Smith was vocal about his love of The Beatles and their songwriting influence is clearly visible across his discography. There is an argument to be made that Smith takes those songwriting characteristics even further, with the use of atypical chord progressions and drearier, sometimes dreamlike, lyrics.  

XO is a companion piece to Figure 8. Its sound is steeped in the subdued melancholia of the previous albums, but it introduces the rich, crisp production qualities which are intensified on Figure 8

Many listeners, including me, were introduced to his discography via 1997’s Either/Or. It’s an album which encapsulates Smith’s early allure, with lushly layered, impossibly intricate guitars and melodies straight from the Big Star and Beatles’ songbooks. It’s an album, though, which hints at something more in its sparseness. There are great songs – particularly ‘Ballad of Big Nothing’ – which make it where you should start with Smith, but the songs maybe lack scope. ‘Ballad of Big Nothing’ and ‘Cupid’s Trick’ hint at the direction that would be followed in his next album XO. Another brilliant album, with the added, welcome inclusion of fuzzy guitars, saxophones, strings and Wurlitzer pianos. XO is a companion piece to Figure 8. Its sound is steeped in the subdued melancholia of the previous albums, but it introduces the rich, crisp production qualities which are intensified on Figure 8. I should mention that my sweeping assertions in the name of brevity should not dissuade you from listening to the rest of Smith’s discography, particularly because XO is on par with Figure 8’s tremendous ambition.

This song encapsulates the ambition of Figure 8: to create an even sparklier and more bombastic record than XO

This takes us to the gilded doorstep of Figure 8, an album which kicks off with ‘Son of Sam’. This song encapsulates the ambition of Figure 8: to create an even sparklier and more bombastic record than XO. It kicks off with a Beatlesque descending chord sequence, outlined by the delicate synergy between piano and guitar. The lyrics are fabulous, albeit slightly unnerving with context. The moniker “Son of Sam” references the name of a real serial killer, whose delusions of grandeur Smith references in the lyrics: “Son of Sam, son of the shining path, the clouded mind”. The production mirrors the speaker’s confidence, with thumping drums and a rollicking, uncharacteristically huge, distorted guitar break after the verse.

The songs on the album shift through varieties of guitar oriented, raucous rockers such as the symbol heavy, jangle-pop adjacent ‘L.A’, reminiscent of Big Star’s Radio City, or the lurching ‘Junk Bond Trader’ with a doubled piano/harpsichord intro of all things! Yet there remains room for the delicate songs characteristic of Smith’s oeuvre, albeit now with Figure 8’s trademark arrangements. ‘Everything Reminds me of Her’ makes proficient use of the style of the album. Smith’s acoustic playing is complimented by peripheral electric guitars drenched in Tremolo effect, which give the song a spacy atmosphere that compliments the dreamlike lyrics: “The spin of the Earth impaled as a silhouette/ Of the sun on the steeple”. ‘Better Be Quiet Now’ might just be the best song on the album, with its sumptuous but subtle arrangement of guitars and varying, complimentary timbres (multiple acoustics, a 12 string acoustic, an electric and a Nashville stringed guitar). The arrangement is beautifully holistic and so quietly arresting that even as the “softest” song on the album it remains the most striking. 

It best represents Smith’s exuberantly arranged sound and is a piece of art which, through its intricacy and myriad of memorable moments, continues to be a fruitful album for fans to dissect

And I would be remiss not to mention the albums closer (not considering the instrumental ‘Bye’), ‘Can’t Make A Sound’. This is Figure 8 at its most Abbey Road, with a glorious orchestral arrangement (created by Smith of course), commanding drumming and earworm chorus. The guitars are, again, obscene, with the dizzying layering of electric guitars reminiscent of Abbey Road highlight ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’, which also builds in a similarly jaw-dropping manner to ‘Can’t Make A Sound’.

25 years on, Figure 8 continues to remain an astonishing achievement in music which highlights the tragedy of Smith’s death at only 34 years old. It’s most certainly not his most influential, or well known album, especially compared to Either/Or which was immortalised in Good Will Hunting. It is, however, certainly one of his best, and among internet music circles its impact continues to resonate. It best represents Smith’s exuberantly arranged sound and is a piece of art which, through its intricacy and myriad of memorable moments, continues to be a fruitful album for fans to dissect. Twenty five years on, this album demonstrates Smith’s commanding talent, and cements him as one of the great singer songwriters of the 20th/21st century.