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New Wave's resident wordsmith, Elvis Costello, the man who changes direction with each new album, has done it again with Trust — by not changing direction.
Trust, Costello's sixth album, shows us what he has been doing over the years. It is the offspring of the experiments in Taking Liberties, a collection of B sides and English releases. Rather than stamping out new ground with this album, Costello takes a look over his shoulder at his earlier albums and refines some of the techniques tested out there. It's as if all the other albums were trial balloons for this one.
For instance, "Luxembourg" updates "Mystery Dance." "Shot With His Own Gun" updates "Just a Memory" and "Alison." "From a Whisper to a Scream" updates "Radio, Radio" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding."
Armed Forces was the pinnacle of Costello's songwriting. Get Happy pinned down the appropriate production techniques. Trust combines the two.
As usual, Trust oozes puns and other forms of wordplay. Some examples:
• In "Lovers Walk": "Lovers strut, lovers stroll, lovers leap."
• In "You'll Never Be a Man": "Don't wanna be first, I just want to last."
• In "Pretty Words": "Pretty words don't mean much anymore / I don't mean to be mean much anymore."
• In "Watch Your Step": "Back-slapping drinkers cheer the heavyweight brawl / So punch drunk they don't understand at all."
• In "New Lace Sleeves": "Good manners and bad breath get you nowhere."
• In "White Knuckles," a song about a sadist and an unwilling partner: "It doesn't matter if your face doesn't fit / There's no charge for changing it."
• In "Shot With His Own Gun": "Shot with his own gun / Now dad is keeping mum" and "Let's get loaded and forget."
• In "Fish 'n' Chip Paper": "The early morning dandruff turned out to be confetti / And the cost of living in sin would make a poor man out of Paul Getty."
• In "Big Sister's Clothes": "She's got eyes like saucers / Oh you think she's a dish."
One of the nice things about Costello is that you can listen to any of his albums almost endlessly and never get tired of them. You may pick up on some of the stuff tucked away in the grooves during the first spin of the album; other gems may stay hidden for a hundred listenings, then suddenly konk you over the head.
That virtue, though, may be somewhat lessened on Trust by, ironically, the clarity of the production: It's now easier to figure out what he's saying.
But this isn't really a criticism of the production. While Costello was perfecting his songwriting skills, Nick Lowe was perfecting his producing skills. The production here, as before, isn't lavish or flashy. It's just unbeatable.
It's almost the kiss of death to say it, but in many ways, this album is like Elton John in his "middle" (i.e., Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Château, Madman Across the Water — i.e., good) period. I mean, there's the ballad "Shot With His Own Gun" that's just vocals and some classical rolls from Steve Nieve on a real piano — not the toy he played on the first two albums. And there's the "Hercules"-type piano in "Luxembourg." (And like Elton, Costello is starting to flood the market — six albums in four years, the last three in scarcely more than a year. But at least Trust contains only 14 songs, not the 20 Costello's last two albums have sported.)
Costello really sings on Trust, too. His voice follows up on the promises of Get Happy and becomes a musical instrument instead of just a vehicle for the lyrics: And, by God, thanks to some genuine repeated choruses, you can even sing along.
In the rock 'em, sock 'em "From a Whisper to a Scream," Costello teams up for a duet with vocalist Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze (a Costello spinoff group) for Costello's liveliest song yet. It has a good chance of being his first single, too. Then he turns right around and delivers a country tune, "Different Finger" ("I don't want to hear your whole life story / All I want is one night of glory") in a perfect honky-tonk whine.
Much has been made recently of Costello's "mellowing" from his "angry young man" days. Anyone who saw his polite appearance on the Tomorrow show would tend to believe it's true and fear that Costello has abandoned his old stance.
Not to fear. The two songs he did there were the most sedate from the new album. Costello still makes music with a menacing bite — it's just more polished and pretty now.
Not to deny, though, that their may have been some mellowing. But it didn't come suddenly, as a chronological listening to his albums makes clear. Besides, Costello may not have much to be mad at now. He's a man who has gotten where he was going by age 26 or so. But as he told Tom Snyder: "I'm not in the business to mature. It sounds like some sort of cheese."
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