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This is more like it. The King, now reverted to his original moniker of Declan Patrick MacManus, veers back on course with a mighty fine collection chronicling his feelings about Uncle Sam, love, hangovers and, most of all, the trappings of fame.
It's a country record, similar in tone to Costello faves Gram Parsons and Brinsley Schwarz (Nick Lowe's first band). The biggest change musically is Elvis' use of sterling American musicians like guitar legend James Burton rather than the Attractions on all save one cut. Burton's restrained, elegant guitar replaces Steve Naive's piano as the lead instrument, and backing from the other Elvis' TCB (Taking Care of Business) band, plus sublime jazzers Ray Brown and Earl Palmer, make for a warmer, more relaxed sound: the tension that normally marks Costello's music is almost entirely absent.
There are some great songs — "American Without Tears," "Brilliant Mistake," "Indoor Fireworks," "Little Palaces," "Suit of Lights" — that rank with anything pop's most prolific songsmith has laid down to date. Lyrically, he's more direct than usual. In "Brilliant Mistake," which can be taken two ways (Elvis on himself as an angry young upstart viewing the USA, Elvis on America as a brilliant concept gone nuts) he pulls off lines like "he thought he was King of America / Where they pour Coca-Cola just like vintage wine" and "she said she was working for the ABC News / It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use."
Okay, okay, okay. The rumble on King of America is that it may be his best work to date, and indeed it's up there with Costello classics like This Year's Model, Get Happy! and Imperial Bedroom. Which means it's the very best pop music has to offer.
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