Elliot has become a progressively better producer over the last decade but "Figure 8" proves that it has been at the expense of his songwriting skills. There is not one, Not One, track on here that ranks with his classics or even the average song from "XO". This is a dreary, bitter album that disgusts me as a former admirer of E. Smith; too many tracks seem to be jealous, snide attacks on other musicians who have sold out. I fail to see what other people see in this record. It just proves to me that today's college radio has become a glut of Good Old Boys who rule by the strength of past successes, current failures be damned!