Summing up a back catalogue that includes harrowing, threadbare indie-folk and lushly arranged ballads into a neat package isn’t an easy job. By concentrating heavily on this former and earlier part of Elliott Smith’s career, the compilers of ‘An Introduction To…’ have gathered some of his best songs into a starkly beautiful and coherent album.
But doing so doesn’t just neglect a big part of his musical personality, it also misses out some of his most famous and accessible material – arguably not the best way to introduce one of the greatest yet commercially overlooked singer-songwriters of the last twenty years.
8/10
Words by Steve Harris
