Relix, June 1986

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King Of America

Elvis Costello

Tierney Smith

On the more subdued side, the first thing you notice about Elvis Costello's new LP, King of America (Columbia), is the striking spareness of the musical arrangements. Folk-style settings with an emphasis on acoustic guitar is the order of the day, which all told, offers a totally unobtrusive backing for a host of infectious melodies. Kudos go to co-producer T Bone Burnett, whose disdain of extraneous musical accompaniment was evident on his equally fine work on Marshall Crenshaw's latest LP.

King of America's 15 tunes are so uniformly pretty it's easy to overlook the fact that underneath it all Costello remains his usual snide self: "She said that she was working for the ABC news / It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use" ("Brilliant Mistake").

Lack of variety is never a problem. There's a smattering of galloping C&W ("Lovable," "Glitter Gulch," "The Big Light"), some strong ballads ("Sleep Of The Just," "Indoor Fireworks," "Poisoned Rose") and an earnest cover of the Animals classic "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," the latter set to a spare marimba/organ backing.

Tags: King Of America • T Bone Burnett • Brilliant Mistake • Lovable • Glitter Gulch • The Big Light • Sleep Of The Just • Indoor Fireworks • Poisoned Rose • The Animals • Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood