Punk’s scarecrow singer-songwriter became a televisual pop star, a conceptual band-leader (The Attractions, The Confederates, The Imposters etc), and apparently innately turned his short stories – lacerating tales of romantic frustrations, political expediency, hapless social climbing and all the rest – into any form he wanted to. His first half-a-dozen records are almost concept albums, with Costello moving through genres as though they were time zones. Confident of his instincts and virtuosity, he has continued in this vein for more than 40 years, happy to dip in and out of styles and collaborate at will (notably with Burt Bacharach on 1998’s Painted From Memory and Allen Toussaint on 2006’s The River In Reverse).
He’s been quiet of late, not helped by a recent cancer scare, which was an unnecessary interruption to his almost relentless touring schedule. Next month sees the release of a brand-new album, however, which will bring smiles to Costello loyalists everywhere, principally because it demands to be taken seriously. Called Look Now (probably because you should), it’s the first record he’s made with The Imposters since 2008 and his first new album since the well-reviewed 2013 Roots collaboration, Wise Up Ghost.
Costello says that he decided to make the record while touring last summer with the band, largely playing songs from his Imperial Bedroom album, and having spent a weekend with Look Now it’s easy to see the connection. The songs here are dense but ornate, complex but forthright, and every one of the 12 songs has a melody that you won’t be able to slip. Costello has been criticised in the last decade or so for failing to address his audience and by trying to distance himself from his past. And whether you subscribe to that or not, this new record is good enough to appeal to any Costello fan, regardless of when they joined his train.
There are co-writes with Bacharach, while one song – “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter”, written with Carole King – sounds like the best thing that Steely Dan have written since Katy Lied.
Pre-order the album now (the deluxe version has an additional four songs) and you’ll be rewarded with instant downloads of two of the album’s very best songs, “Under Lime” and “Unwanted Number”.
As the man says himself, the Elvis Costello Record Shop is open for business again.
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