2.5 stars (out of 4)
Costello has explored just about every 20th Century music style, twice, and he went bluegrass in a big way on his 2009 album, “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.” That album’s producer, T Bone Burnett, and many of its musicians are back for “National Ransom” (Hear Music). They are augmented by Costello’s regular touring band (the Imposters), plus an array of guests including country singer Vince Gill, piano eminence Leon Russell, and guitarists Marc Ribot and Buddy Miller. The cast makes for one of Costello’s most sprawling albums, 16 tracks over 62 minutes that explore everything from ragtime (“Jimmie Standing in the Rain”) to orchestrated chamber pop (“Church Underground”).
Costello’s accomplishment as a songwriter comes with a healthy dose of entitlement – there’s nothing he won’t try, which tends to make him a hit-or-miss proposition even for some of his most ardent fans. “National Ransom” is the artist at his most restless, the songs loosely organized under a theme of bankruptcy -- financial, moral and otherwise. It spans decades stylistically and lyrically, with songs designed to evoke specific times and places (“A Drawing Room in Pimlico, London, 1919”).
The elaborate conceit plays into Costello’s method-actor tics as a vocalist, and indulges his tendency to cram too many words into too many tight spaces. When he relaxes a bit and puts melody on the front-burner (“I Lost You”) or rides a pub-rock wave (“The Spell That You Cast”), the album soars. As with many of his releases the last decade, “National Ransom” is kind of a mess, with enough scattered gems to reward deeper investigation.
greg@gregkot.com