|
A mere seven months ago, Elvis Costello was looking, sounding and apparently feeling like the proverbial new man.
He finally had divorced his wife, the poor wretch he had cut to ribbons in 10-odd years' worth of lyrics, the brilliantly sarcastic likes of which have never been heard in pop music.
He was about to marry Cait O'Riordan, the bassist for The Pogues.
He supposedly had changed his name back to the handle he was born with, Declan MacManus.
And he had just released King of America, a first-rate album that showed a more subdued, more controlled Costello on the road back from one or two uncharacteristically flat records, having thrown aside his longtime sidemen, The Attractions.
So, seven months later, what's Declan/Elvis MacManus/Costello up to? Well, he's Elvis Costello again (professionally, at least), with The Attractions and Nick Lowe, his producer on the first five of his previous 10 albums, and he's still ragging on the lady who's now his ex. Hear all the gory details on Costello's 11th and latest album, Blood & Chocolate (Columbia).
If King of America exhibited the calming influence of his love affair with O'Riordan, then the new LP is where Costello comes to grips with all the angst of his divorce from the former Mrs. C. "You think it's over now but it's only just begun," he rasps in the opener, "Uncomplicated." He isn't kidding.
The blade gets sharper and digs deeper in the incongruously bouncy "I Hope You're Happy Now," when he betrays jealousy over his ex-wife's new squeeze.
While Costello's lyrics are typically dead-on, the general sound of Blood & Chocolate is another source of amazement. The LP mixes the punk edge of 1978's This Year's Model with the eerie dreaminess of 1982's Imperial Bedroom. Elvis and producer Lowe keep the instrumentation in the background, almost as if at times it's an afterthought.
Indeed, always up front is Costello's voice, a stunning instrument in its own right.
| 
