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The Coward Brothers, Howard and Henry, had a fine ol' time playing together 20-odd years ago, dancing through country and hillbilly songs true and not so true. Henry, aka T-Bone Burnett, also lent a hand producing Howard's (aka Elvis Costello) back-to-American-roots album King Of America.
Well, the brothers are back with Burnett producing an album almost as much fun as those Coward shows.
Backed by a string band, Costello plays jaunty reels, back porch ballads and ones for the late-night fireside and mixes the lovelorn and the wicked alongside yarn-spinning songs.
It won't feel surprising to long-time fans, not least because some of his older tunes are revisited, a couple from his Hans Christian Andersen song cycle we've only seen performed live, the perfectly judged harmonies of Jim Lauderdale and a brief visit from Emmylou Harris.
This is even rootsier than King Of America, more casual too, which makes for a lively, more straightforwardly entertaining album. "Maybe it's time to put aside these fictional blunders," Howard, sorry, Costello says in Red Cotton. Not yet, I would think.
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