Boston Globe, September 21, 2003: Difference between revisions
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Orchestrations came to Costello almost simultaneously while laying down demo recordings. Initially unaware that he was composing a song cycle, Costello began to perceive "an accumulation of feeling," he says, noticed "a sense of connection," and wrote six more songs that would complete a picture of a man moving from darkness into light. | Orchestrations came to Costello almost simultaneously while laying down demo recordings. Initially unaware that he was composing a song cycle, Costello began to perceive "an accumulation of feeling," he says, noticed "a sense of connection," and wrote six more songs that would complete a picture of a man moving from darkness into light. | ||
Lyrically and sonically, "North" follows an upward trajectory, growing sweeter and headier as it goes. "You know the expression something's `gone south'? It's the opposite of that. It's also a place I go, the northern part of the North American continent," Costello says of the album's title. "North" reunites the singer-songwriter with the [[Brodsky Quartet]] for "[[Still]]," the album's winsome centerpiece; on the rest of the album longtime pianist [[Steve Nieve]], drummer [[Peter Erskine]], and double bassist Mike Formanek form a hushed, dusky rhythm section accompanied by a horn nonet and 28-piece string section arranged and conducted by Costello. | Lyrically and sonically, "North" follows an upward trajectory, growing sweeter and headier as it goes. "You know the expression something's `gone south'? It's the opposite of that. It's also a place I go, the northern part of the North American continent," Costello says of the album's title. "North" reunites the singer-songwriter with the [[Brodsky Quartet]] for "[[Still]]," the album's winsome centerpiece; on the rest of the album longtime pianist [[Steve Nieve]], drummer [[Peter Erskine]], and double bassist [[Michael Formanek|Mike Formanek]] form a hushed, dusky rhythm section accompanied by a horn nonet and 28-piece string section arranged and conducted by Costello. | ||
There are less than 12 bars of electric guitar on the record, and there's no better way to get at the aesthetic of "North" than to scroll through the Sinatra-esque adjectives Costello conjures to talk about his lover. She's a marvelous girl, sensational, indescribable. The songs' savvy internal rhymes, too, smack of old-school style and first-class romance, and the elegant musical phrasings owe a debt to jazz, musical theater, classical music, and vintage pop. Imagine Sondheim with [[the Beatles]] in his blood, sung almost entirely in Costello's broken, burnished baritone and brandished with a startled heart. | There are less than 12 bars of electric guitar on the record, and there's no better way to get at the aesthetic of "North" than to scroll through the Sinatra-esque adjectives Costello conjures to talk about his lover. She's a marvelous girl, sensational, indescribable. The songs' savvy internal rhymes, too, smack of old-school style and first-class romance, and the elegant musical phrasings owe a debt to jazz, musical theater, classical music, and vintage pop. Imagine Sondheim with [[the Beatles]] in his blood, sung almost entirely in Costello's broken, burnished baritone and brandished with a startled heart. | ||
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Neither is he terrifically concerned about how people will receive "North." | Neither is he terrifically concerned about how people will receive "North." | ||
"I'm not trying to join the dots and be one of the most successful artists of all time," Costello says. "An audience is a group of individuals with different points of view. People my age who loved `[[This Year's Model]]' may understand the transitions in these songs very well. People who want to hear music that sounds like what I used to do have become exasperated and left the room. I figure they're served by somebody else. Others have discovered me through the songs with [opera singer] Anne Sofie von Otter. There's a revolving door. People go out and come in." | "I'm not trying to join the dots and be one of the most successful artists of all time," Costello says. "An audience is a group of individuals with different points of view. People my age who loved `[[This Year's Model]]' may understand the transitions in these songs very well. People who want to hear music that sounds like what I used to do have become exasperated and left the room. I figure they're served by somebody else. Others have discovered me through the songs with [opera singer] [[Anne Sofie von Otter]]. There's a revolving door. People go out and come in." | ||
The angry young man, now 48, speaks with a clarity available only to those who are comfortable in the spaces between black and white. Even these songs, so candid and unironic, are layered with dubious messages. Is "[[When Did I Stop Dreaming?|When Did I Stop Dreaming]]" about waking up to reality or the end of believing in something? Does "[[Can You Be True?|Can You Be True]]" ask if a lover is real or if she can be faithful? | The angry young man, now 48, speaks with a clarity available only to those who are comfortable in the spaces between black and white. Even these songs, so candid and unironic, are layered with dubious messages. Is "[[When Did I Stop Dreaming?|When Did I Stop Dreaming]]" about waking up to reality or the end of believing in something? Does "[[Can You Be True?|Can You Be True]]" ask if a lover is real or if she can be faithful? |
Revision as of 07:18, 6 March 2014
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