`Delivery Man' brings a satisfying country slant
Elvis Costello jumps across so many musical styles that it's tempting to mistrust his unchecked enthusiasm. That is, until his next album, when he breaks a new boundary or fuses some oddball idioms that endear him to you all over again.
Costello is a master dabbler, but when he dabbles well -- as he does on "The Delivery Man," due out today -- he makes it seem easy. Suddenly, his gravelly voice sounds just right, and he seems utterly comfortable within his genre in the way he tells stories, probes archetypes, and leaves you spellbound by his lyrical twists.
"The Delivery Man" simply delivers. It's one of his stranger albums -- and that's saying something for Costello; it's a pop disc with a country accent, reminiscent at times of his acclaimed "Almost Blue" of 1981. Country songbird Emmylou Harris harmonizes on three of the songs, and alt-country diva Lucinda Williams joins him on the dark honky-tonk of "There's a Story in Your Voice," which opens with Costello intoning, "Someone put the hurt on you for everyone to see."
The album was made this spring at Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, Miss. Costello gathered his group the Imposters (with longtime drummer Pete Thomas and keyboardist Steve Nieve, along with bassist Davey Farragher) to lay down these Southern-steeped tracks in an organic fashion, with no pseudo-techno overlays. There's a wonderful rock minimalism to the opening "Button My Lip" (with Costello mock-begging, "Button my lip with your kiss") and the garage-rocking, White Stripes-like "Needle Time," which has organ fills that sound as if they should be played by Jeff Conolly of Boston's Lyres. There's also the percussive "Bedlam," which alludes to strife in the Middle East. Costello uses another song, "Monkey to Man," as a forum for his frustrations with modern life. No, this is not Elvis at his most optimistic. But he's digging deep -- and you have to admire that from a songwriter of Costello's stature. Happily, he didn't try to churn out the sappy ballads of his last pop album, "North," in 2003 (though that was preceded by the inspired, return-to-rock form of "When I Was Cruel" in 2002).
This new disc delves into some genuine heartache -- witness the piano ballad "Country Darkness" and the hypnotic "Heart Shaped Bruise," in which he and Harris entwine their voices with bittersweet glory. They also harmonize beautifully on "The Scarlet Tide." Backed by a lone ukulele he and Harris create an intimacy that just might make it the best track here.
Overall, there's enough rock for Costello diehards and enough of a country slant to perk up fans of that genre. And throughout the keen emotions and occasional strong philosophizing, Costello once again makes his genre hopping look effortless.
