The 1990’s were a decade filled with cult artists, but not many can lay claim to capturing a fanbase as committed as Elliott Smith. In a period characterised by huge, larger-than-life personalities, Smith’s lo-fi indie folk stylings and his lack of interest in chasing the spotlight were a welcome antidote to the excess of the era.
So idiosyncratic was he, that it seemed that you never met anyone who just 'liked' Elliott Smith, if they had heard of him, they adored and obsessed over him. Being able to command that kind of reaction, it was inevitable that major labels and mainstream outlets would eventually come looking for him. It was a situation that the notoriously troubled and doubt-filled musician really struggled with, but Smith’s first dalliance with the mainstream did lead to one of the finest albums of his career; 1998’s XO.
By the middle of 1997, Elliott Smith had become one of the coolest names to drop in the indie music scene. Formerly the frontman of Portland, Oregon indie-rock band Heatmiser, his excellent early solo albums, 1994’s Roman Candle and 1995’s Elliott Smith, had laid the groundwork for his, then, career best Either/Or album to really capture the imagination when it was released in February of that year. Still lo-fi and melancholic, the album was ever so slightly brighter in tone and found Smith really hitting his stride for crafting indie-pop nuggets wreathed in sadness.
