The Delivery Man

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

In recent years Elvis Costello albums have emerged according to a pattern: There are his ambitious forays into uncharted musical waters with the Brodsky Quartet, Burt Bacharach, and various exotic orchestras, and there’s fresh meat for the faithful. The Delivery Man clearly falls into the latter category, but even within the bounds of the snarling pop and rock he’s so comfortable with, Costello finds new corners to explore. Recorded in North Mississippi with the same combo that tore into 2002’s When I Was Cruel, songs like the messy “Button My Lip” and the snarling “Needle Time” bear the unmistakable footprint of the blues. An unhinged country-rock duet with Lucinda Williams and a strutting '50s-style bang-up speak to the record’s loose, ragged feel, but Costello’s emotional scythe remains precise, cutting straight to the core on classic soul ballads and country weepers alike.

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