And here is another one! Kill Rock Stars had announced two more Elliott Smith’s unreleased songs during the month of August to celebrate the late songwriter 43rd birthday, and they are keeping their promise. This time, it is an alternate version of ‘Angeles’, a song featured on his 1997 album ‘Either/Or’.
If they had surprised us with the brand new take on ‘Punch & Judy’, this new ‘Angeles’ version is really close to the original, and this will disappoint people who were expecting more of these unreleased tracks. However, this new version is more stripped down, with less instrumentation, focusing on Elliott’s naked and fragile vocals, as if he was playing in the same room, right in front of you. On a personal point of view, I had already heard so many acoustic versions recorded during live shows, as well as some demos of the song, that I can’t really say I was surprised, nor that the track feels like a new thing for me.
At the end of the track, Elliott says ‘That was called Angeles’, which is a touching ending for a song that has always been a favorite of fans, me included. I mean the finger picking is fantastic, and I have always wondered how he managed to get so much fluidity, so many notes at once with only one guitar. This is one of the most intimate versions, and although it will mostly interest die-hard fans, you can buy it on Kill Rock Stars bandcamp.
Listen to it below: