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To say that Costello was back in top form implies that he hasn't really been in form recently, which is a little misleading. It is just that this is his first fully-fledged solo album in nearly five years and only his third such album in a decade.
The intervening years have seen Costello in "serious"' musician mode working with the Brodsky Quartet, Swedish mezzo soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and, in his most successful and acclaimed collaboration, legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach. (And anyone who can make Burt cool again deserves our utmost admiration!)
It is easy to forget that Costello has been on the scene for 25 years and that he is still going strong while so many of his contemporaries at the time of his first recordings have long since disappeared (thankfully, in most cases).
But since his first appearance at the height of the punk era back in 1977, Elvis was always a step ahead of most of his peers, musically and lyrically. He might have had a punk attitude and a good sneer but his background and influences always suggested that he was going to hang around for a while. There was never a chance that a quarter of a century after the punk revolution Costello would be a man out of time having to try and relive his glory days as do so many others.
The fact that the debut album, My Aim Is True, was produced by Nick Lowe and featured American band Clover was perhaps the first clue that Costello was different and that his influences were likely to be important. Even before he started dabbling in classical music and Bacharach he was exploring American roots music — country, soul, R&B — and he had even recruited James Burton, guitarist for the original Elvis, and worked to constantly evolve his sound.
Costello's various personae over the past decade have certainly contributed to his longevity, regardless of how the music might have appealed to his long-time fans. I must admit I can take or leave most of the Costello excursions of recent years but, in the same way that I admire Neil Young and Bob Dylan, I admire his ability to re-invent himself, to explore his musical interests and to take risks.
However, there is one Elvis Costello persona that appeals to me the most and that is when he is being... Elvis Costello, rock musician. It is what he does best and also the way we will see him on tour here in July.
Last time we saw Costello on tour it was almost in semi-acoustic mode, highlighting the Bacharach collaboration songs, accompanied by former Attraction Steve Nieve on piano. The good news is that Nieve is back — along with another ex-Attraction, drummer Pete Thomas and
new bass player Davey Faragher (ex-John Hiatt band) — to form the basic studio and touring band, augmented by various horn players and other instrumentalists. On the new album Costello, as co¬producer, opts for a sound that, while not necessarily sparse, does not sport too many superfluous notes, even on the more adventurous tracks.
The very title When I was Cruel seems to hark back to Costello's early days when he was thought of as an angry young man. The album kicks off with "45," a punchy song with the band in full flight — and one which might sit happily on any of those early albums. Add to this "Tear Off Your Own Head," "Soul For Fire," "Dust 2" (the highlight for me), "Dissolve" and "Daddy Can I Turn This" and you might think that Elvis was revisiting the ghosts of his past. But this is just the classic Costello sound — an inescapable signature and one that is always welcome.
As the album unfolds we are treated to other aspects of the Costello persona as he moves back and forth — from rocker to balladeer — as the mood takes him. The depth of experience behind the recording, musically and emotionally, would always mean that he would never simply be reliving the past. The angry young man has turned into a feisty middle-aged one.
Contrast the up-tempo songs with the title track, which has a haunting sample from "Un Bacio E Troppo" sung by Mina, or "Spooky Girlfriend," which is, well, spooky. Elsewhere, Elvis can be equally reflective as his moods dictate and the musical backdrop is just as interesting.
Not only does he recapture some of the spirit of his earlier recordings but Costello's powers of observation, description and imagery are expressed in lines as taut as the instrumentation.
Occasionally prone to over-verbalise, Costello pares down his lyrics to match his production. "If dust could only talk / What would we hear it say?" he asks in "Dust 2." "Well, I believe we just / Become a speck of dust..." he concludes. "Bass and treble heal every hurt / There's a rebel in a nylon shirt," he writes in "45." The title track features the most evocative and obtuse lyrics on the album: "The ghostly first wife glides up stage whispering to raucous talkers" or "Two newspaper editors like playground sneaks / Running a book on which of them is going to last the week." (I liked that one).
While Costello is now twenty-five years into his career, he shows no signs of flagging. The fact that he can still produce an album as vital and exciting as When I Was Cruel is, so far, one of the year's best pieces of news. Classic Costello.
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