Pitchfork

Elliott Smith would've been 38 today. In honor of the late Portland, Ore., singer-songwriter's birthday, Kill Rock Stars has released a free download of "Angel in the Snow", a melodic and melancholy lo-fi folk track from this year's compilation of unreleased Smith recordings, the poignant New Moon. Like many of Smiths' best songs, this one exhales resignation through sparse acoustic guitars, as Smith's double-tracked vocals come out beautiful and sad. "Don't you know that I love you?" Smith sings, but it's the next line that's gut-wrenching: "Sometimes I feel like only a cold still life, only a frozen still life, that fell down to lay beside you." There's nothing to romanticize here, just another excellent song from a late great.

MP3:> Elliott Smith: "Angel in the Snow"
[from New Moon; out now on Kill Rock Stars]