A friend of mine told me a guy on TikTok named Elliott Fullam announced he released his first album on his 18th birthday, September 2, 2022, saying it was for fans of artists like Mazzy Star and Elliott Smith, both of which I love. Naturally, I decided to check out his debut album and I was impressed with its quality.

Fullam’s debut can be described as Elliott Smith meets Duster. Fullam took Smith’s guitar and vocal work off albums like Roman Candle and meshed it with Duster’s lo-fi production aesthetic to create an incredible work of indie rock. The best example of this is the opening track, “Dolonia”, which is, in my opinion, the best track on the album.

Starting off the track is a beautiful set of arpeggiated, lush guitars. A few seconds in, we hear Fullam’s wispy Elliott Smith-like vocal work. Fullam’s vocals focus on a girl named Dolonia. Fullam’s lyrics aren’t nearly as important as his delivery of them. He sings them in a beautiful, yet haunting manner that leaves me with chills as I listen to the song.

While at times I feel like Elliott Fullam’s debut is a little too derivative of Elliott Smith’s music, he has definitely created a unique, quality work, something the majority of 18-year-olds can’t say they’ve done. Fullam’s debut is a 7.6/10 as it’s a good album in its own right, but not at the level of the other Elliott; he definitely will be in due time. Go check out his album; you won’t regret it!