Elliott Smith’s Self-Titled LP to Be Reissued With Unreleased Live Album; Hear Bonus Track

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Elliott Smith’s Self-Titled LP to Be Reissued With Unreleased Live Album; Hear Bonus Track

Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition Due Out August 28 via Kill Rock Stars; Listen to “Big Decision (Live at Umbra Penumbra)”

May 21, 2020 By Samantha Small

From the crushing melodies of Either/Or to the raw honesty of XO, Elliott Smith’s music lives on in hearts of millions. But Kill Rock Stars is giving fans something extra special on August 28: the Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition of Smith’s self-titled second solo album. It will include a previously unreleased live album, recorded Portland’s Umbra Penumbra in 1994 and the first single from the live disc has been shared, “Big Decision (Live at Umbra Penumbra).” Listen below.

The package includes all a variety of treats such as a completely new remastering of the original record, a bonus disc of the earliest known recording of Smith performing as a solo act (recorded September 27, 1994 at Portland’s Umbra Penumbra), a 52-page book of handwritten lyrics and notes from Smith’s friends, and previously unseen photographs.

For this release, producer/engineer Larry Crane, the official archivist for the Smith family, gathered files, reels, cassettes, and DAT tapes to find original Elliott Smith mixes. “There are fan-traded MP3s out there of this show, but when people hear what I was able to extract from this original tape, they’ll be shocked,” Crane says in a press release.

Leading up to the reissue's release, artists such as Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), Josh Kaufman (Muzz, Bob Weir, Josh Ritter), Marisa Anderson, MAITA, Prateek Kuhad, and Califone will release covers of Smith’s tracks.

“I’ve always felt like this record is underappreciated,” Kill Rock Stars founder Slim Moon says in a press release. “A lot of people overlook Elliott’s first two records—they think of them as a prelude to the bigger albums that followed—but when you go back, you discover they’re really great. This is Elliott’s most fragile and delicate music, and we wanted to honor that with a special and beautiful package.”