Humo - review of North

[frank]

If it’s all right for you all, I occasionally will bring some ‘Elvis-news’ from our little country, Belgium.
Humo, one of the most important magazines, gave ‘North’ the following review. I post it because it is one of the best I’ve read till now. The journalist obviously took the trouble to listen a few times to the record – I believe this isn’t always the case in the reviews I’ve read till now.
So here it is:

You can’t guess what a rock-journalist receives in his mailbox nowadays, you simply don’t hold it for possible. Last week we got a cd from the famous ‘Deutsche Grammophon’-label, mainly known from their work with wild punks such as Herbert von Karajan. Do those people from the record companies really think that we listened our whole youth to The Stooges, The Ramones, Nirvana or Queens of the Stone Age, to review a record from ‘Deutsche Grammophon’ ?

The answer is strangely enough, yes. But, then again, we are talking about ‘North’, the new Elvis Costello. Costello has some classical history, remember his collaborations with the Brodsky Quartet (‘The Juliet Letters’) and mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter (‘For the stars’). But ‘North’ doesn’t belong in this row: this record is for the’ wee-wee hours’, a collection of vocal ballads, referring to the fifties. A risky career move? Undoubtedly, and not only musical: especially textual, this record is very audacious, because Costello, for a change without irony or clever wordplay, sings openly about ‘Love’.

And yes, it takes some courage to do that in these cynical, post-modern times, because a) if you don't look out, it quickly becomes pathetic, and b) irony and cynicism are very easy to hide behind (‘it was just for laughing’). But if it works, the result can be great. See for instance ‘One’ of U2, and from now on also North, a cd build as a story, that begins with the end of an old love ‘You left me in the dark’ and ends with the beginning of a new love ‘I’m in the mood again’ (the titles say it all), and with all the doubts and uncertainties that go along with it, in between.

For those who doesn’t read the gossip pages, it’s probably interesting to know that Costello’s relationship with ex-Pogue Cait O’Riordan recently ended. Nowadays he’s engaged with jazz diva Dianna Krall. You can listen to ‘North’ as an autobiographical report about the man’s love life, but not necessarily: even if you never had any relation with O’Riordan, Krall or Costello, there’s a big change that all this sounds very recognizable.

For instance, ‘Someone took the words away’, a song that tells an eternally clumsy idiot such as I, that even an eloquent 49 year old man, who built his career upon brilliant lyrics and ‘bon mots’, can’t find the right words when he has to explain to a girl that he’s in love with her: ‘Why don’t you speak up and say what you mean’? he tries to encourage himself. ‘It’s strange to find myself so tongue-tied, I’m powerless to express, someone took the words away’ – Yeah, these sorts of moments we’ve all been trough, but we couldn’t count on a jazz celebrity such as Lee Konitz to come and help us with a brilliant sax solo.

And this is only one example, because the rest of the lyrics and songs on ‘North’ are equally subtle and strong: ‘When it sings’, ‘Still’, ‘Let me tell you about her’, ‘When green eyes turn blue’. Costello doesn’t need more than Steve Nieve on the piano, a baseline, an Flugelhorn, vibes, a sax or clarinet to underline his qualities as a crooner. Ol’ Blue Eyes is dead, my friends, long live Ol’ Four Eyes.
(godb)

[HungupStrungup]

That's a very fine review. My one tiny criticism (and maybe the original meaning was "Lost in Translation") is that either "wee hours" or "wee small hours" would be fine, but "wee-wee hours" sounds as though you'd have to change the sheets afterward.

Thanks frank.