Befitting its chamber music orchestration, The Juliet Letters contains quite a few sad songs. But Costello does find room for a couple of funny ones.

Among those is ‘I Almost Had a Weakness,’ a caustic letter from a dying aunt to the suddenly sycophantic relatives who would lay claim to her fortune.

I’ve often wondered what the songs from this album would sound like done in a more traditional fashion, with, say, The Attractions backing Costello instead of The Brodsky Quartet. I assume he’s played at least a few of these songs in concert over the years, but I don’t own any of those recordings.

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