Elvis Costello and The Roots - Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs

Great Ghosts

You can hear Elvis Costello’s imminent release Wise Up Ghost, recorded with hip-hop’s The Roots, streamed here. This is a great, funky as well as silky-smooth album, tracks like Sugar Won’t Work and Wake Me Up grooved perfectly to the former, and Tripwire sweetly attired to the later. There’s loads of fuzz and loads of bass and loads of sass and loads of harmony, all wrapped around Costello’s inimitable vocal and songwriting savvy. Eighth [She Might Be A] Grenade has jagged beats, sweeping strings, Costello’s wail - echoed now and again – tight harmonies, smart lyrics. Wow.  Tenth Viceroy’s Row is similar, though here the pounding groove is eased in and out, the harmonies are pinched to some sublime sweetness, and the sharp jazz orchestrations add further layers of cool. Title song Wise Up Ghost is expansively orchestrated and works into its other musical complexities hypnotically. Last song If I Could Believe is a classic Costello ballad, piano driven and with a vocal that rises here and there to those melodramatic warbles we expect, and greatly receive, and ends on even more melodramatic strings.