Creating pop music so eclectic on his last two outings that they almost defied the word pop, Elvis Costello takes a somewhat logical jump away from pop altogether on his remarkable new venture.
Embarking on a joint authorship and performance with the Brodsky Quartet, a sharp young string ensemble from the classical world, he moves into a new realm of music that is at once a natural progression and a severe departure.
In long and unusually revealing liner notes, Costello claims his aim is not to join classical and pop in "that junkyard named crossover." Instead, he hopes to be delving into new areas using the vocabulary of both disciplines. As a result, the catchiest of The Juliet Letters recalls Beatles-esque experiments with string backing. And the most classical of the 20 tracks are the voiceless instrumentals, which are just as often written by Costello.
The collaborative effort is one of the most interesting parts of the album, which itself is focused on an ambitious idea: letters to Shakespeare's fictional Juliet Capulet.
It's daunting at first for the rock fan to approach a huge album of strings and voice; but Costello has seldom sung better. And any fans of his past work will find something to cherish here in this sometimes difficult but ultimately rewarding work.
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