Review of North
Press, 2003-11-01
- Mark Wilson

 

North - Elvis Costello
Reviewed by MARK WILSON

**
The trouble with Elvis's latest effort is that it reeks of late-career indulgence.

Costello's place in the pantheon of pop gods will never be disputed - the content of his first three albums guarantees that.

The casual insight of his lyrics - as in It's Been a Good Year for the Roses, for example - confirms him as a masterful balladeer. And his a capella cover of the classic He'll Have to Go, performed to a Sweetwaters festival crowd many summers ago, still haunts me.

So what happens?

He hitches up with Diana Krall and puts out an album of mediocre jazz. It's like she gave him an orchestra for Christmas and he responded by writing her a bunch of love songs. It's all just a little too cloying for me.

What's interesting is the accompanying DVD - two of its three songs are filmed live, with Elvis at what looks and sounds like an old church-hall piano.

One, in true Elvis fashion, is North, the title track of the album that doesn't appear on the album. The other is Fallen, which on the CD has strings sawing away in the background, but here has nothing but the plunk-plunk of the piano and Elvis wearing his heart on his vocal delivery.

It's pure magic. Do it like that, Elvis, or else leave the building.