Published October 23, 2003. |
Elvis Costello |
North |
(Universal) |
When I Was Cruel saw Elvis not only return to his angry young self, it was his strongest release since King of America. North ventures back to the material that graced his records with Burt Bacharach and Anne Sofie Von Otter. It’s a beautiful record filled with sparse piano-based compositions—one of his finest works. Lovely and dark, bitter and sweet, the essential elements that have always made Costello’s work quintessential pop are here. Without a doubt his finest “mellow” record. |
—Trevor MacLaren |