Devotees of Elvis Costello will find this collaboration with hip-hop band the Roots a more labour-intensive listen, perhaps, than the casual arriviste. These tracks are densely self-referential, borrowing lyrics and themes from Costello's past. Most politically, there is a sequel, of sorts, to his Falklands-era screed, "Shipbuilding," called "Cinco Minutos Con Vos," which imagines the view from the south Atlantic. What's new, though, is the Roots's mutating groove and how well it chimes with Costello's delivery, alternately gruff, sour or soulful.
|