I’m taking another break between Elvis Costello weeks, but he’s managed to sneak in anyway. Today’s song, a snappy number from Jenny Lewis’ latest album Acid Tongue, is a duet with Costello. And today’s video is a live version of the song from The Late Show with David Letterman, where Costello has always found a home.
I haven’t returned to Acid Tongue (or Lewis’ last album Rabbit-Fur Coat) much since I bought them, but when I do it’s always rewarding. She’s a talented writer and an expressive singer with a sensibility that spans genres and ends up very much her own thing.
After seeing Ben Folds in concert recently my sister made the astute observation that Folds is half sensitive, perceptive songwriter and half obnoxious frat boy. She’s a big fan of the former and not too keen on the latter, and was upset that the frat boy played a prominent role in the live show.
A year after The Juliet Letters, Costello’s most adventurous album to date, he reunited with The Attractions and put out what critics hailed as a return to old-school form.
OK, when an artist’s new release is a concept album about written correspondence performed entirely with a string quartet, he’s admittedly opening himself up to charges of pretentiousness. So yes, The Juliet Letters is sort of by definition a pretentious album.
Probably the most notable thing about Costello’s next album, Mighty Like a Rose, is the monstrous beard he grew to accompany its release. Costello says he grew the beard to get through an Irish winter and kept it around because it irritated people so much.
Meet Me In Montauk 