Review Of Painted From Memory Dagbladet, 1998-10-06 - Fredrik Wandrup Translated by Sverre Ronny Saetrum CD: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH BURT BACHARACH Elvis Costello has made the term "crossover" his own. From a punk- energetic starting point in the late 70´s he has put his great talent to use in everything from hard-rock to swinging rhythm´n´blues. And he has shown just as much sensitivity for musical nuances whether he's been accompanied by Chet Baker, or he's been doing cover-versions of Hank Williams songs. In Costello's world there are no walls between jazz and country. Or so-called "easy-listening", for that matter. So it comes as no surprise that Costello has chosen to collaborate with the sophisticated pop-composer Burt Bacharach and consequently made one of this year's most beautiful and melancholic albums. Costello, backed by orchestra and choir, swings his way through a dozen rather unknown Bacharach compositions, covering a broad repertoire of feelings: happiness, sorrow, doubt, bewilderment and love. Costello manages to bring out the depths in Bacharach´s seemingly simple musical universe and through his intense interpretations he shows how emptiness and sadness can be transformed into beauty through what can only be described as a pop- pearl.