ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS
"Look Now"
BOTTOM LINE: Costello bounces back from a health scare with an album brimming with new life.
Elvis Costello had already finished his new album, "Look Now" (Concord), his first with The Imposters in a decade, before he had to undergo surgery earlier this year to remove "a small, but very aggressive cancerous malignancy."
But he really does sound like a man enjoying life, returning to peak form as a songwriter, telling tales about leaving behind bad situations and celebrating good ones. And Costello is using a broader sonic spectrum to bring those stories to life.
The opener, "Under Lime," harks back to Costello circa "Imperial Bedroom," the album he was showcasing on tour when he began work on "Look Now." He teams up again with Burt Bacharach for the gorgeous ballad "Don't Look Now," calling to mind their underappreciated 1998 classic "Painted from Memory." "Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter," a collaboration with Carole King, is a brilliant clash of 1977, putting languid verses of disco gloss next to multi-syllabic bridges of new wave intensity. There are also moments of Daptone-soul ("Unwanted Number") and the grandest of Britpop on the lament "I Let the Sun Go Down."
While Costello would normally spend entire albums focusing on one of these styles, it's actually thrilling to hear all of them jockey for attention on the same album. The single "Suspect My Tears" is one of Costello's best songs in years, with its nods to '70s soul punctuated by an unexpected falsetto and a string section that goes rogue at the end to demonstrate the song's theme of what happens when "two hypocrites collide."
"You always promised to lose control," Costello croons before declaring, "I learned a trick that you used to play ... I'll cry until you suspect my tears."
With a career as solid as Costello's, it's easy to take his dependable quality for granted. "Look Now" is a stunning reminder of how lucky we are to still have him around.
ELLA MAI
"Ella Mai"
BOTTOM LINE: The R&B singer-songwriter is way more than "Boo'd Up."
Ella Mai is set for stardom.
Sure, her single "Boo'd Up" is an undeniable love song, the kind of groove that never gets old, which would help explain why it has topped the R&B charts for the past four months.
But her debut, "Ella Mai" (10 Summers/Interscope), reveals the British singer-songwriter, who grew up in Manhattan, to have so much more to offer. The 23-year-old combines the laid-back neo-soul of Ledisi or Estelle with the edge and timeliness of Rihanna throughout her 15 tracks to create a solid album with no filler.
The current single, "Whatchamacallit," with Chris Brown should continue "Boo'd Up's" radio domination with its breezy cool vibe, though the clever "Good Bad" could easily do the same. What impresses more is how Mai holds her own with John Legend on the neo-soul ballad "Everything" and how she handles the poignant ballad "Naked," which could cross over to multiple formats with its Ed Sheeran-esque simplicity and Mai's hopeful vocals.
"You don't know if I'm a saint or a sinner yet," Mai croons in the charming "Sauce." "But you already singing Ella praises."
True, on both counts, but "Ella Mai" will guarantee plenty more praises.
