Almost exactly a year after his untimely death -- missing the anniversary by just two days -- 's final recordings were released as the album. had been working on the album for a long time. His last album, , had appeared in 2000, and when it came time to record its follow-up, he parted ways with both his major label, , and his longtime producer/engineer, , working through a number of different producers, including L.A. superproducer , before recording a number of sessions with , which were supplemented with 's home recordings. At the time of his death, was still tinkering with the album. There was no final track sequence and only a handful of final mixes; it was closer to completion than 's , which he intended to re-record, but it was still up to his family to finalize the record. For various reasons, the family chose to work with and -- a former girlfriend of and current member of ' -- instead of , who went on record with of the week before the release of to state that this album was not exactly what intended it to be. According to , as well as biographer , wanted the album to be rough and ragged, and told that "obviously did not get his wishes," claiming that three of the songs on the album were considered finished by both him and , but appear on the record in different mixes. It's hard to dispute that did not get to finalize the mixes, the track selection, or the sequencing -- he died, after all, with the album uncompleted -- but that's the nature of posthumous recordings: they're never quite what might have appeared had the artist lived. Critics, fans, and historians can have endless debates about whether this particular incarnation of the songs on would have been what would have been heard if had finished the record, but that doesn't take away from the simple fact that the music here is strong enough to warrant a release, and that it offers a sense of resolution to his discography. While it's likely that is cleaner than what intended, it is much sparer than , and it feels at once more adventurous, confident, and warmer than its predecessor. Perhaps it's not "the next ," which is what claims it could have been, but it has a similarly freewheeling spirit, bouncing from sweet to fingerpicked acoustic guitars to fuzzy washes of sound. It's not far removed from 's previous work, but it feels like a step forward from the fussy and more intimate than . The most surprising twist is that despite the occasional lyrics that seem to telegraph his death (particularly on ), it's not a crushingly heavy album. Like the best of his music, is comforting in its sadness; it's empathetic, not alienating. Given 's tragic fate, it also sadly seems like a summation of his work. All of his trademarks are here -- his soft, sad voice, a fixation on '60s , a warm sense of melancholy -- delivered in a strong set of songs that stands among his best. It may or may not be exactly what intended these recording sessions to be, but as it stands, is a fond farewell to a singer/songwriter who many indie rockers of the '90s considered a friend. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine