FIRST-EVER VINYL PRESSING AVAILABLE VIA INTERSCOPE VINYL COLLECTIVE
2LP ON 180-GRAM BROWN OPAQUE VINYL FEATURES NINE BONUS TRACKS INCLUDING FAN FAVORITES “HOW TO TAKE A FALL” AND “THE ENEMY IS YOU” PLUS “MISS MISERY”
Los Angeles – August 1, 2024 – The Deluxe Edition of Elliott Smith’s major label masterpiece, XO, will be released on vinyl for the first time, expanding the classic album with all the b-sides and assorted tracks that were released on the various singles, promos, and international editions of the revered 1998 record. XO (Deluxe Edition), which was first released digitally in 2019 to commemorate Smith’s 50th birthday, is available exclusively as this month’s offering of The Interscope Vinyl Collective, a monthly subscription that celebrates the legacies of Interscope’s most essential acts while introducing timeless albums to a new generation of fans. The first-ever vinyl pressing of XO (Deluxe Edition) features the album on 180-gram opaque brown vinyl along with nine bonus tracks, many of which have never been on vinyl, including fan favorite b-sides, “How To Take A Fall,” and “The Enemy Is You,” along with the “Good Will Hunting” smash and Oscar-nominated “Miss Misery.” Spread across two LPs, the packaging features a 2LP gatefold jacket with deluxe edition cover art and includes limited edition lithograph of Elliott Smith. The records are individually numbered and limited to 4,000 units globally. For more information or to pre-order XO (Deluxe Edition), visit: https://interscope.com/pages/interscope-vinyl-collective#this-months-vinyl
XO has been expanded to include nine tracks recorded and released during the XO era and features a handful of excellent b-sides released on the UK singles for “Waltz #2” and “Baby Britain:” the instrumental “Our Thing,” the rocker “How To Take A Fall,” the brooding “The Enemy Is You” and the full band version of “Some Song (Alternate Version).” It also includes a demo of “Waltz #1” and an early version of “Bottle Up and Explode!,” as well as a remix of “Baby Britain” and a radio edit of “Waltz #2.” It’s rounded out with “Miss Misery,” which was included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of XO. Aside from “Waltz #1 (Demo),” “Our Thing” and “Miss Misery,” all of the bonus songs are making their vinyl debut.
XO signified a major evolution for Smith and a critical turning point in his career, away from the lo-fi indie folk confessionals laid bare on his previous three albums and toward a more stereophonic, full band sound. XO was released August 25, 1998, just a few months after Smith was reluctantly thrust into the spotlight with a life-changing performance at the Academy Awards for his Oscar-nominated song, the “Good Will Hunting” closer, “Miss Misery.” With the backing and resources of his new label DreamWorks Records and the help of producer team Rob Schnapfand Tom Rothrock, Smith embraced his opportunity to create a lush, ambitious, and beautifully complex album unlike anything he had done before. XO finds Smith coloring his introspective acoustic songs, still filled with understated melodies and barbed one-liners, with shades of rich, Beatlesque production, string-laden baroque pop and spirited rock.
While “Sweet Adeline” opens the album with Smith’s hushed vocals and gentle fingerpicking, familiar of what fans had come to expect from him, the song takes a dramatic and unexpected turn halfway – as if switching from black and white to color – with an explosion of piano, drums, bass and Smith’s soaring voice. It was a bold assertion that this was not going to be a quiet singer-songwriter record. Indeed XO, which saw Smith playing most instruments, was his most expansive album to date, filled with exquisite arrangements, masterful pop songcraft, and a musically diverse collection of songs. Tracks like the aggressive “Amity” and horn-filled “A Question Mark” echoed Smith’s former band Heatmiser’s grungy indie rock and hinted at his punk roots while the jaunty “Baby Britain” displayed his knack for an indelible melody. Album centerpiece and first single, “Waltz #2,” described by Stereogum as the apex of his career – “ambitious, bold, intoxicating, and beautiful” – included some of Smith’s most biting lyricism and culminated with the unsettling squelch of bowed strings. Some of his finest guitar playing is evident on “Independence Day” and “Tomorrow Tomorrow.” The album concludes with an emotional one-two punch to the gut: the rollicking kiss-off anthem, “Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands,” followed by the haunting multi-tracked a capella, “I Didn’t Understand,” which proved that Smith could be equally powerful at his most bare.
Universally hailed upon release, XO topped best of lists in 1998 and continues to resonate, as powerfully moving as ever, more than 25 years later. The album is consistently included on greatest albums list and was featured on Spin’s“Top 125 Albums of the Past 25 Years” and Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.” Praising the album, the latter wrote, “Elliott Smith used his DreamWorks debut, XO, as an opportunity to further focus the emotional power of his previous releases. Melancholy and grandiosity may seem mutually exclusive, but on XO, they’re combined to wonderful effect, each crystalline guitar line and majestic piano arpeggio adding momentum and depth to Smith’s gorgeous and impassioned vocals.”
Elliott Smith’s legacy and enduring influence have only continued to grow since his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 34. To celebrate what would have been Smith’s 55th birthday on August 6th, the acclaimed 2014 documentary about Smith, “Heaven Adores You,” is returning to theaters for a limited time week of August 5th via Mercury Studios, and New Monkey Studio, the Van Nuys, Calif.-based recording studio Smith established in the late ‘90s is producing a tribute concert at the Regent Theater in downtown Los Angeles on the late legend’s birthday, August 6th. With a winking nod to Smith’s joyous cover of Hank Williams Jr.’s song, the “All My Rowdy Friends” concert will feature Scott McPherson, Aaron Embry and Shon Sullivan of Smith’s Figure 8 touring band, joined by a diverse cast of guest artists performing heartfelt tributes to Smith’s music, including Jason Lytle and Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy, Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, Earlimart, Illuminati Hotties, Kevin Devine, Leslie Stevens, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Cheekface, comedian Margaret Cho, and others. For more information or to purchase tickets, for “All My Rowdy Friends” visit: https://regentdtla.com/tm-event/all-my-rowdy-friends-celebrating-the-music-of-elliott-smith/
To find a theater near you showing “Heaven Adores You,” visit: https://heavenadoresyou.com/mercury-studios-proudly-presents-elliott-smith-heaven-adores-you-10th-anniversary-re-release-of-documentary-marks-55th-birthday-of-beloved-singer-and-songwriter
About Interscope Vinyl Collective (IVC):
The Interscope Vinyl Collective is a monthly subscription that celebrates the legacies of Interscope’s most essential acts while introducing timeless albums to a new generation of fans. Subscribers get first access to exclusive merch runs related to each month’s release and perks on the Interscope.com store. Each IVC release is individually numbered and limited to 4,000 pressings. IVC is by fans for fans, deepening connections to the most cherished albums through new storytelling content, reinvigorated artwork, and carefully curated merch collections. This project is also in tandem with Interscope.com’s new monthly exclusive drop cadence, which features never before released hi-fidelity and color variant versions of classic fan favorites.
About Universal Music Enterprises
Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) is the centralized global catalog division of Universal Music Group (UMG). Working closely with all of UMG’s record labels, territories and operating companies, UMe provides a frontline approach to catalog management, a concentration of resources, opportunities in new technologies and an emphasis on strategic marketing initiatives to engage all types of consumers across multiple entry points and platforms.
XO (DELUXE EDITION) TRACK LIST
LP1
Side 1
1. Sweet Adeline
2. Tomorrow Tomorrow
3. Waltz #2 (XO)
4. Baby Britain
5. Pitseleh
6. Independence Day
7. Bled White
Side 2
1. Waltz #1
2. Amity
3. Oh Well, OK
4. Bottle Up And Explode!
5. A Question Mark
6. Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
7. I Didn’t Understand
LP2 – BONUS TRACKS
Side 3
1. Our Thing
2. How To Take A Fall *
3. The Enemy Is You *
4. Some Song (Alternate Version) *
5. Waltz #1 (Demo)
Side 4
1. Bottle Up And Explode (Early Version) *
2. Baby Britain (Remix) *
3. Waltz #2 (Radio Edit)*
4. Miss Misery
* first time on vinyl