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Elvis Costello's new album, on which he is reunited with The Attractions, has been set for a March 7 release by WEA. It's called Brutal Youth and it's described by those who've heard it as a stunning return to the power and fury of his first three albums.
The album is being billed as an Attractions LP — US promo copies bear the legend: "Elvis Costello Brutal Youth featuring Elvis Costello, Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas and Nick Lowe."
The album was co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Elvis and engineered by Chad Blake.
It features 15 tracks.
Here, The Maker's man in New York, David Fricke, gives us a brief description of each track on the album.
"Pony Street" — kicks off the album in old hyper style with the circus-organ sound, abrupt martial drum rolls and the serrated twang of The Attractions circa This Year's Model.
"Kinder Murder" — a chilling song about violence and violation ("She should have kept her knees together / Should have kept her mouth shut / It's a kinder murder") with faint echoes of "Less Than Zero" in tempo an structure but the dark, metallic foreboding of the Blood & Chocolate period.
"13 Steps Lead Down" — a chorus that recalls the infectious vocal-riff cascade of "Oliver's Army" and a hard venomous mono-twang Costello guitar solo at the end.
"This Is Hell" — a step in the Imperial Bedroom direction, a Lennon-esque view of the not-so-greener side of the fence with acoustic guitar calliope-style keyboard flourishes and some droll ideas of torture ("'My Favourite Things' is playing again and again / But it's by Julie Andrews and not by John Coltrane")
"Clown Strike" — this is a stripped-back swinger about not trying so hard to be admired and loved.
"You Tripped At Every Step" — a sweet and sour ballad about a relationship drowning in alcoholism, a tender admonition rendered in the style of melancholy romanticism that made "Everyday I Write The Book" one of Costello's biggest US hits.
"Still Too Soon To Know" — one of the shortest songs on the album, barely over two minutes with the nervous uncertainty in the lyrics starkly underlined by Steve Nieve's "Moonlight Sonata" piano garnish.
"20% Amnesia" — a Blood & Chocolate-flavoured state-of-the-nation address where the unemployed and the expendable are wiped out from the national consciousness and conscience.
"Sulky Girl" — a classic Attractions rumble. This Year's Model is exuberantly recast for 1994.
"London's Brilliant Parade" — false bravado, thoughts of suicide and images of a city going to seed ("The lions and tigers in Regent's Park couldn't pay their way / And now they're not the only ones") rendered with a dusky pop elegance.
"My Science Fiction Twin" — opens with a sassy fuzz-box not to "Pump It Up."
"Rocking Horse Road" - nostalgia and yearning for what might have been, spiked with a skeletal musical menace and bursts of full-band angst.
"Just About Glad" and "All The Rage" — a pair of kiss-off songs in vintage 1978-79 Costello-Attractions style, the latter in a snarly overhaul of Fifties waltz-time doo-wop.
"Favourite Hour" — a funereal sign-off with just Costello, piano and a doleful hint of organ.
The album is preceded by a single "Sulky Girl," at the end of the month.
Costello is currently lining up a UK tour for late spring and dates will be announced shortly.
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