“Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield sing Elliot Smith”
Ramseur Records
Released: March 17
Rating: 1 Star
Cover songs are never as good as the original. Ever.
Although there are some exceptions to this rule, Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield’s attempt to take on songs by the late Elliot Smith only solidify the theory.
It’s always nice to honor a musician and their collection of work, but there are a variety of ways to approach how a song should be recreated— especially because there are two kinds of people: those who have no idea who Elliot Smith is, and those who are die-hard fans of his work.
One of the best things about Smith’s work is that often times, his songs sounded unfinished. Avett and Mayfield attempt to conclude his masterpieces, ruining the initial charm that was heard many years ago.
They completely ignore the genius of the original tracks, and make polished renditions that are nothing special.
Within the spectrum of the indie genre, Smith most notably utilized indie folk and lo-fi elements. His minimalist recordings intentionally have a lower quality than the standard stereo or mono track, creating kinks and grittiness that is required to Smith’s aesthetic. The duo cleans the tracks of their intentional disparity and aligns the songs with every other post-production pop hit.
The album starts with “Between The Bars” as Mayfield wails the lyrics “Drink up baby, stay up all night.” The vocals resemble the lo-fi qualities, however, her voice is whining instead of animated, which could have easily been fixed by channeling a tortured timbre to her tone.
While some of the folk elements remain, the songs are unrecognizable to the originals.
Avett and Mayfield condense a discography of seven albums into a measly 12 songs. They chose some of the more well known songs by Smith like “Baby Britain,” “Somebody That I Used to Know,” “Roman Candle” and “Memory Lane.”
This first track is the only real tease of anything that might be remotely close to Smith’s sound, but traverses into a completely different genre for the rest of the album.
Kidz Bop could make better covers of these songs. At the very least, they would just change the lyrics.
The album may serve as a misguided introduction to Smith for those who are unfamiliar with his music, but this is by no means an appropriate substitution for fans of Smith looking for a music fix.
The duo’s collaboration is actually a creative combination, but the pair should have stuck to their own artistic cues and left the punk-fold legend alone.