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Jan 26, 2016 Elliott Smith By Christopher Roberts

The Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You got a limited theatrical release last May and was released on DVD and Blu-ray last July via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The soundtrack features unreleased songs by the late singer/songwriter and is due out February 5. Below is the rare song “True Love.” It was recorded in 2001 by Jon Brion as part of the sessions for Smith’s final album, 2004’s From a Basement on the Hill (which was finished after his 2013 passing). Listen to it below, followed by Smith’s solo version of “Plainclothes Man,” a song by his previous band Heatmiser.

As Pitchfork reports, the film’s producer (and Smith’s friend) Kevin Moyer commented on the song, saying:

“This was a song that Elliott would often demo and play after hours at Largo (an L.A. music club that he would frequent owned by friend Mark Flanagan), and also one of the last songs that Elliott ever performed there on Valentines Day in 2001. This was also around the time that Elliott and friend Jon Brion went into a small studio to record the track, partially as an attempt to help him get to focus on non-drug activity. I’ve heard I think two or three different versions of this song and the lyrics evolved and shifted from a love interest to a major drug interest instead. One of the versions seemed really scathing too, and I wondered if some of the references were about the intervention and the anger he had towards his friends. This version was recorded at Jon Brion’s studio with Tom Biller & Jon engineering, and this is a new mix done by Larry Crane years later for use in the Heaven Adores You film.”

Also, Under the Radar conducted the last ever interview and photo-shoot with Smith before his passing and you can read that here.

Heaven Adores You OST Tracklist:

01 Untitled Guitar Finger Picking [1983]
02 Untitled Melancholy Song [1993]
03 Don’t Call Me Billy [early version of “Fear City”] [1993]
04 Christian Brothers [performed with Heatmiser] [1995]
05 Hamburgers [performed with Neil Gust] [1995]
06 Plainclothes Man [Elliott solo version] [1996]
07 Unknown Song (instrumental) [1994]
08 Say Yes [live at Yo Yo Festival 1997] [1997]
09 Unknown (instrumental) [1994]
10 Coast to Coast [early version] [1995-96]
11 Waltz #1 (demo) [1997]
12 Untitled Soft Song in F [1993]
13 True Love [2001]
14 Miss Misery [live on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”] [1998]
15 L.A. [1999]
16 Son of Sam (acoustic) [1999]
17 The Last Hour [early version] [1999]
18 Everything Means Nothing to Me [1999]
19 Happiness [1999]
20 I Love My Room [1984-85]