Review: “Momofuku,” Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello has been all over the map the past few years. He’s released a disc of quiet tunes called North, a soulful/New Orleans-flavored disc, The River in Reverse, with Allen Toussaint (which is excellent by the way), an orchestral disc, an opera, and an Americana disc titled The Delivery Man. On his new disc, Momofuku, we can finally say…Welcome back to rock and roll, Elvis Costello!

 

The 12 tunes rock in the same vein as his classic Armed Forces did in the late 1970s. “American Gangster Time,” “No Hiding Place,” and “Turpentine” bring back the patented keyboard and drum sound Elvis had with producer Nick Lowe. He tackles love like only he can on the soulful “Flutter and Wow” and the joys of fatherhood on “My Three Sons.” “Stella Hurt” sounds like the theme for a female espionage thriller, and he co-wrote two songs with two legendary Nashville women;  “Song for Rose” with Rosanne Cash and “Pardon Me Madam, My Name is Eve” with the Coal Miner’s Daughter, Loretta Lynn.

 

I’ve been a Costello fan for years, so I pretty much buy anything he puts out, even if I only listen to it a few times. I have a feeling I’ll be listening to Momofuku more than a few times because this is clearly his best CD in years.

 

MP3: American Gangster Time

 

Elvis Costello Official Website