The relationship between Elvis Costello and New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint stretches back more than 20 years, with the duo's first collaboration coming on a 1983 cover version of Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice." That being the case, the release of their duet album, "The River in Reverse," doesn't come as much of a surprise, though the album's appearance is rendered bittersweet by the circumstances of its creation. It was only after Toussaint was forced to relocate to New York from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that their collaboration came together. As Entertainment Weekly (rating: B+) notes, the album is haunted by "the ghost of Katrina."
As the critics have been almost unanimous in pointing out, it is Costello, an inveterate musical dabbler, and not Toussaint who seems to have gained the most from partnering up. Rolling Stone (rating: 3.5 stars out of 5) points out that it is Toussaint's "steady, rollicking piano that elevates the music -- and keeps the ever-elusive Costello honest." The New York Times has a similar take, praising how "the stubborn idealism and canny humor" of Toussaint's songs help to rein in Costello's "convoluted earnestness."
Costello was famously one of rock's angry young men, but perhaps due to Toussaint's influence, "The River in Reverse" showcases a more controlled sense of emotion. Phoenix's New Times applauds Costello's decision to shed "the vitriol [he] wore on the shoulder of his younger days" and instead take on the role of "explicator of Toussaint's gospel-grounded, mannered soul."
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