Album Review

Elliott Smith – Roman Candle

• 6th Apr 2010

It makes a nice change to hear something as understated and humble as Elliott Smith’s album Roman Candle, which scores top marks in the “lets-the-music-do-the-talking” category. Smith is evidently talented and works his chord sequences to enable each song to acquire a very specific feeling which is translated via the sound as a whole, rather than just one element such as the melody (as is often the case).

The title track is refreshingly basic, if morose, and beautifully earthy. Not without embellishment though, the guitar provides an interesting pizzicato effect throughout, which holds the song just above the metaphorical restful abyss (i.e. enough to send you to sleep), and gives it that extra something.

‘Conder Ave.’ is a lighter, more relaxed number which comes across a bit like something the Kinks might have written on their classic Lazy Sunday Afternoon. This song is perhaps the only example of Smith playing around with layering, and it works very well which makes it a shame that he wasn’t a bit more bold in this respect for the remainder of the album.

Although he is truly evokative with each song, by the mid-point of the album it appears almost as though Smith has run out of emotions to evoke, and the sound hits a bit of a plateau with ‘No Name #3’, ‘Drive All Over Town’ and ‘No Name #4’, although it is worth mentioning the wonderful melodic flow to ‘No Name #4’which boasts some stirring peaks and troughs.

Come ‘Last Call’, the energy levels are back up; this number is decisively more intense, both instrumentally (with the use of more electric instruments) and vocally (with bear-your-soul lyrics such as “just walk away, that’s all you do” and “start to drink, just wanna continue”) than those which preceed it, which iss just as well as the album was in danger of sliding off the energy scale, albeit intentionally as Smith focuses the majority of the songs on more downbeat, hollow emotions.

The last track is a bit of a shocker given the tone of the album so far: a purely instrumental, slightly rockabilly number which sounds a bit like Simon and Garfunkle at their most rock’n’ roll. The guitar (of course) inputs that vital southern twang, which gives the piece a barren Route 66 feel to it, but unfortunately that’s all there really is to this track. It lacks development, and so rather than telling a story or reflecting a change, it just tracks one level mood which unfortunately results in it becoming little more than background music come the end of the track

But despair not, for Roman Candle has a lot to offer emotionally, if not musically, and this makes up for its shortcomings elsewhere. It’s one to listen to on a “Black Dog Day”, as it possesses the ability to draw emotions out of you whether you plan for it or not, which frankly, given today’s iPod governed, super-sized lifestyle, is a real breath of fresh air.