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Blood & Chocolate is this year's model Elvis Costello, although he is also an updated distillation of his earlier best efforts — My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Imperial Bedroom. The Hank Williams wannabe of Almost Blue never rears his ugly head, but the passionate, hopped-up fusion of soul, rock and pop (what we liked about him in the first place) is back.
With this new album, Costello joins the Talking Heads as late-'70s new wavers who have recaptured their original simplicity. Blood & Chocolate, like the Heads' Little Creatures, could be mistaken for an old album.
As one of the more substantial artists to emerge in recent years, he has never been afraid to take chances. This new album hints that as he matures, he might take them less for their own sake.
Perhaps the musical explorations he took from his fourth album, Get Happy, through this year's King of America, were done to prove that his voice and wit could travel. But new songs like the sarcastic "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind" — backed by Steve Nieve of the Attractions' driving organ — and the tortured, heartfelt "I Want You" show that Costello is home again, and better off for it.
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