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Blood & Chocolate marks a return of sorts for Elvis Costello. He is again using his stage name after doing last winter's King of America as Declan Patrick MacManus. He is backed by the Attractions; for King he used American session musicians. He is, most importantly, writing songs reminiscent of Armed Forces in their ferocity and sophistication.
Once again, there is a great deal of reference to Armed Forces' Emotional Fascism. World affairs are thrown into an ironic setting that owes its origin to interpersonal relationships: how can East meet West when two people can't even decide to live together painlessly? "Tokyo Storm Warning" and "Crimes of Paris" effectively use this conceit.
Both lyrically and musically, Costello songs seem to lull with quotidian details, then slip a knife in your heart or in your sense of conventionality. "Uncomplicated," the opening tune on Blood & Chocolate is a snarling and rancid valentine to an unsophisticated ex-partner. The dirge-like drums and spitting vocals contrast the lyrics: "You think it's over now / but this is only the beginning."
"I Hope You're Happy Now" shares its musical roots with many Costello songs, but the subject matter makes the song resemble a condemning testimony in a messy divorce trial.
The centrepiece of the album is "Tokyo Storm Warning." The song wanders all over the globe, from Alabama to Spain and Japan, the singer always finding hypocrisy and a lack of insight in his subjects. A specially keen observation has Japan, the society that has achieved success by aping American enterprise, looking like a microcosm of America's decay. The guitar-playing is Elvis' most ferocious in several years.
Blood & Chocolate's most moving track — also a lesson in Costello's preeminence as a pop songwriter — is "I Want You." The slower number twists its way from a pointed, typical Elvis love song to a pained, emotional plea punctuated by spanking guitars.
Living up to its quirky title, "Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?" is a rocking, organ-based dance tune, and the fastest song on the album.
"Blue Chair" has a rhythmic similarity to "Oliver's Army," especially in Steve Nieve's organ playing. The song puts Costello's familiar blue imagery to good use: a line like "Blue becomes you" contains several layers of meaning.
Cait O'Riordan of the Pogues does a smoother-than-silk harmony on the chorus to "Crimes of Paris," another example of the complexity of Costello's jaundiced world-view.
The closing tune, "Next Time 'Round," finishes the album in an atypically cheery fashion. Spiteful lyrics are couched in a mood of acceptance: "As I stepped out upon the landing/ My heart was already down the stairs."
The biggest surprise of this record? Nick Lowe's return to production duties is marred by organs and bass that are unrestrained and muddy on many songs.
Blood & Chocolate is a consistent Costello album. The man's talent is so apparent that he is always expected to produce flawless work. Many bands can "look" the part of rock 'n' roll, but very few can articulate rock's message. Elvis/Declan is vastly successful in doing just that.
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