Elvis Costello & The Imposters: Elvis Costello (vocals, guitar, ukulele, Wurlitzer piano, tambourine).
Personnel: Emmylou Harris (vocals); John McPhee (pedal steel guitar); Steve Nieve (melodica, piano, Wurlitzer piano, harmonium, organ, Hammond b-3 organ); Davey Faragher (Fender Rhodes piano, bass guitar); Pete Thomas (drums, percussion); Lucinda Williams.
Recording information: Delta Recording, Clarksdale, Mississippi; The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California; Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.
In between Elvis Costello's 2003 album of jazzy, piano-based ballads (NORTH) and his 2004 album of orchestral, neo-classical compositions (IL SOGNO), rock's original Renaissance man somehow found the time to journey down to Oxford, Mississippi with his band the Imposters (essentially the Attractions with a different bassist) for the follow-up to his masterful 2002 pop album, WHEN I WAS CRUEL. There are some parallels to that record; a similar sense of raw immediacy, spare arrangements, and a couple of songs that echo WHEN I WAS CRUEL's churning, cyclical feel.
For the most part, however, THE DELIVERY MAN, with its prevalence of rootsy country and soul influences (and duets with Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris), is closer in style to the much-loved 1986 Costello album KING OF AMERICA. "The Name of This Thing Is Not Love" sounds like it ought to be powering a Sam Moore comeback album, and "The Judgement" was, in fact, recorded by Solomon Burke for his 2002 comeback record, DON'T GIVE UP ON ME. Some cuts leave the rootsiness behind (the slinky, image-laden title song; the pounding, urgent "Bedlam"), but THE DELIVERY MAN is ultimately a deep bow to the American musical inspirations that are a huge part of Costello's vision.
What the critics say...
Rolling Stone (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Even the ballads bristle with force. As these thirteen songs rattle and rumble along, it's easy to miss their depth, their incisive mapping of the places where love, obsession and anger intersect."
Rolling Stone (p.142) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "Costello's best full-on rock album since BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE..."
Uncut (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]his is a strong and lusty country-punk album placing him in Tom Waits or Neil Young territory....He hasn't sounded this energized for years."
Uncut (p.76) - Ranked #34 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "A strong country influence with lots of steel guitar..."
CMJ (p.5) - "[I]t's done right....Elvis welcomes guest Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams to add the heartbreak you can only get from male/female vocal interplay."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.62) - Ranked #41 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "A fun Costello album? You're looking at it."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.97) - 5 stars out of 5 - "So: songs terrific, band sensational, and - big plus - Costello's voice late-developing way beyond that pinched whine into an instrument of substance and character."
