Review of North
Irish Times, 2003-09-18
- Tony Clayton-Lea
The Irish Times, Sept.18 2003
(review section, p10)
The CD cover shows Elvis Costello walking along a rain-soaked cobblestone
street, rain coat flapping at his knees, looking decidedly morose
and surly. The CD title double-jobs as a pun, then (it`s grim up North, etc.), but the music is far from sullen; indeed, if anything, it`s
Costello`s most joyous record in a long time. The musical template is
down-beat, the terrain very much song-orientated, the instrumentation
veering from eloquent, elegaic jazz
tones to pop-inflected string arranged tunes. If you think more along
the lines of Costello`s collaborative work with Burt Bacharach and The
Brodsky Quartet than anything else he`s done ( although long-term fans
might recognise slight thematic similarities with Shot With His Own
Gun, from 1981`s Trust), then you`ll have some idea of the sterling
work on display here. Initially concerned with late-night musings on
the resigned nature of love lost ( You Left Me In The Dark), North
soon becomes more indelibly ingrained with love found (Still, Let Me
Tell You About Her), resulting in an assuredly focused and warm-hearted
record.
Tony Clayton-Lea