Lunar Boulevard

Elvis Costlello's latest album finds him at the top of his game once again. Teaming up for another album with T Bone Burnett, Costello dives back into the world of bluegrass, country, Americana and folk for another rich and diverse offering that officially cements him as one of the greatest musical minds in history. This album finds him dealing with stories and themes of the South and it's Antebellum stylings never cease to surprise at every twist and turn. The album opens with "Down Among the Wines and Spirits", a brilliant and bluesy introduction that's both catchy and fun. It's clear which waters EC is choosing to sail and the trend continues with "Complicated Shadows", a redone version of a song that previously appeared on All This Useless Beauty . This version trades the loud guitar and drums of the original for acoustic stylings and a country swagger. "She Handed Me a Mirror" and "Red Cotton" tell great stories while "H...

After several years without a new solo Elvis Costello release I'm sure I couldn't have been the only one wondering if EC had finally decided to retire. Over the course of his career he's had numerous instances when he thought about retiring or leaving the music business and after three and a half years I thought maybe he had finally decided to stop. I should have known that Costello's love of music is too strong of a pull to keep him quiet for long and in the summer of 2008 he returned with The Imposters for Momofuku , a reference to the man who invented Ramen noodles and also a sly reference to how the album was recorded: quickly and with very little fuss. It's a brilliant album from start to finish and easily my favorite Elvis album since All This Useless Beauty . The album opens on such a spectacular note and the instant I played the album for the first time I knew Elvis was back with a vengeance. "No Hiding Place" takes everything that makes Costello g...

Elvis Costello continued his rich songwriting kick by releasing The Delivery Man in 2004. The Imposters return for this one and it finds Elvis delving more into blues and Americana territory. In a sense it feels a bit like the spiritual successor to King of America , just with more guitars and a more upbeat atmosphere. Originally it appears that Costello envisioned this as a concept album about a delivery man (apparently called Abel) who travels around and has a series of relationships and adventures. Ultimately the album is kind of split, with some of these songs following that storyline and others just being stand-alone songs. It's a bit disorienting but overall The Delivery Man delivers the goods. "Button My Lip" kicks off the album in classic Costello style. It's biting and energetic and features classic lines like, "I'd say 'I want you'/But you know I don't". "Needle Time", "The Name of This Thing Is Not Love" and t...