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Steve Nieve is no Lester Young, and Elvis Costello is certainly no Billie Holiday. But Nieve and Costello have a musical affinity comparable to the timeless songs recorded by Holiday and Young in the '30s. Costello's new album, All This Useless Beauty, finds him once again reunited with keyboardist Nieve and the Attractions, the group Costello has recorded his best music with, from 1978's This Year's Model to 1982's Imperial Bedroom to 1986's Blood & Chocolate, his last best comeback album.
Talented, conceited and driven to excess, Costello has always been his own worst enemy as an artist, but the Attractions have been his most consistent collaborators by getting him to make music that is simple and straight-forward. Beauty shows off those strengths, with Costello devoting himself to challenging melodies and precise singing. Nieve always supplies the proper setting, echoing Costello's phrasing on piano in "The Other End of the Telescope," providing soft punctuation to his lyrics with organ chords on "Little Atoms," adding synth bleats to "Distorted Angel" or even a few Beethoven piano arpeggios to "Poor Fractured Atlas."
With the Attractions rocking out only on "Complicated Shadows" and "Shallow Grave" (drummer Pete Thomas puts the snap in that one), restraint is the order of the day, and it suits Costello well. His peculiar satire still leaves a listener with a curiously cold and ambivalent response — he's a Cole Porter wannabe in a rock 'n' roll world — but this is his strongest, most consistent album in years, featuring his usual intelligent lyrics and impeccable vocals. This year's model is almost up to the high standards Costello set for himself 18 years ago with This Year's Model.
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