London Guardian, February 10, 1989: Difference between revisions
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It is 12 years since he released his first LP and since then he has surely matched all contenders, in the quality of his songwriting, the invention of his musical settings and his enthusiasm for new bands and sounds. That said, Costello has been mysteriously quiet of late, ever since his spate of work in 1986, when he released both ''King Of America'' and that instant romp with the Attractions, ''Blood & Chocolate''. | It is 12 years since he released his first LP and since then he has surely matched all contenders, in the quality of his songwriting, the invention of his musical settings and his enthusiasm for new bands and sounds. That said, Costello has been mysteriously quiet of late, ever since his spate of work in 1986, when he released both ''King Of America'' and that instant romp with the Attractions, ''Blood & Chocolate''. | ||
Now, at last, comes his twelfth studio set and it is well worth the wait. Not that it's an album that will be played at parties. It is a mellow, sometimes even dirge-like collection of songs that also happens to be his most musically adventurous work to date, a collection of 14 tracks that explore styles as disparate as New Orleans blues, Irish roots, discordant funk and English balladry. | |||
Cased in a bizarre album sleeve of Costello's head, half painted like a black and white minstrel, mounted on a wall above a slogan "the beloved entertainer," ''Spike'' is clearly going to be a bitter set, and the first track, "This Town," sets the mood. It's an angry little ballad with lines like ''"you're nobody 'til everybody in this town thinks you're a bastard,"'' and rides on a powerful bass line by Paul McCartney, with added guitars from Roger McGuinn and co-producer T-Bone Burnett. | |||
That's just the first in a whole batch of surprises. Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty fame) provides the keyboards for the next furious track, "Let Him Dangle," an anti-hanging song dealing with that earlier controversy at Wandsworth Prison, the Bentley execution. Now Costello sets out on his global excursions, travelling to New Orleans to meet the great Allen Toussaint and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for the thoughtful, introspective and gospel-tinged "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror." Elsewhere, the brass is used for the discordant funk of "Chewing Gum," and a bold, experimental instrumental piece, "Stalin Malone," that echoes David Byrne's experiments in ''The Knee Plays''. | |||
His other excursion is to Ireland, which is very much home territory (particularly since his association with the Pogues). Here he joins former members of that grand political folk-rock band Moving Hearts, including piper Davy Spillane, bouzouki-player Donal Lunny and even Christy Moore (banging a bodhrán). "Tramp The Dirt Down," which is not so much a political song as an extraordinary explosion of rage, includes the lines ''"when England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madam"'' and ''"I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down."'' | |||
What else? Well, there are relaxed and poignant laments like Baby Plays Around, which shows off the quality of his singing and his acoustic guitar work; there's a wacky and funny finger-clicking piece, "God's Comic" (in which the Almighty listens to Andrew Lloyd-Webber), and there's the more upbeat current single, "Veronica," an Attractions-style guitar rocker co-written with McCartney. All of which adds up to a notable comeback. | |||
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Revision as of 23:11, 19 April 2019
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