|
The British phenomenon Elvis Costello, who will be the center of considerable attention at The Kingfish next week, has bounced out a new album, Armed Forces, and it is a fine one.
Among its many virtues is the presence of Nick Lowe as producer. Costello's workmanlike recordings of the past are overruled here — with a single exception (the overblown opening cut called "Accidents Will Happen") — by the sleek and complementary production Lowe creates for him.
Costello isn't the easiest performer to categorize or keep track of. Yet the aggressive style and personality he projected in his last album, This Year's Model, are given full play here. There's plenty of the bizarre and the sick. Fans couldn't possibly be disappointed. He has, after all, obliged them with a song boasting a simply unforgettable approach to self-preservation — "You'll never get to make a lampshade out of me!"
I'm not sure I could endure an album of it had this one not been given its musical sophistication. With Lowe's help, Costello's songs are almost ... well, catchy. He is an original and the musical style gets very comfortable in a very short while. The songs don't form a whole, though. He's drawn on a variety of styles — reggae, r&b and even the sugar-coated bounciness of a group like ABBA and — come up with some interesting results.
Best of all, there are signs that his lyrics are beginning to take shape. "Party Girl" is a terrific new song. Its lyrics, with those of "Accidents Will Happen," indicate that Costello is getting his feelings off of his sleeve and beginning to deal with them more honestly.
And Lowe treats him to a truly classic version of Lowe's own "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" The racy splendor of Springsteen hovers about this cut but Costello imbues it with his own style. Armed Forces reminds us how rare a true original is... it's good to have Elvis Costello around.
| 
