RECORD REVIEWS

Elvis Costello & The Imposters

Album: “Look Now”

Grade: A

Like in “Anna Karenina,” the characters in “Look Now,” Elvis Costello’s sumptuous new album with The Imposters, are each unhappy in their own way.

A woman who laments her deteriorated marriage while doing some renovations around the house (“Stripping Paper”); a dilapidated music-hall singer whose return to showbiz may be brief (”Under Lime”); a daughter pondering her dad’s infidelity (“Photographs Can Lie”); someone grieving the end of the British empire (”I Let the Sun Go Down”) and so on.

What makes it easy to be sympathetic with even the most pitiable of those in these very human songs are Costello’s elegant melodies and arrangements, which result in a kind of silkier, even more debonair version of “Imperial Bedroom,” his 1982 album produced by recently departed Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick.

Costello’s guitars are mostly in a supporting role. Horns, woodwinds and strings – as well as some of the liveliest backing vocals on an EC album since Afrodiziak lit up “Punch the Clock” – plus the deft hands of The Imposters and Argentine-born co-producer Sebastian Krys, turn “Look Now” into one of his most sonically gratifying records.

Burt Bacharach composed some of the music and Costello also dusted off “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter,” another tale of domestic gloom, written years ago with Carole King. But there are several others, including “Why Won’t Heaven Help Me” and “Stripping Paper,” which show how deeply those 1960s sounds, from pop to soul, influenced Costello and how expertly he applies them in his own superlative songwriting, which “Look Now” has plenty of.

Costello said he recorded the lead vocals as he was recovering from a cancer scare and it made him feel invigorated instead of depressed. The power of his voice here, including that characteristic long-wave vibrato, confirms his mood.

Those in Costello’s songs may be mostly miserable, but “Look Now” will make its listeners very happy indeed.

—Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Edie Brickell and New Bohemians

Album: “Rocket”

Grade: A

Edie Brickell’s first new record since 2006 with her original band New Bohemians is a triumphant return for an artist who never really left.

“Rocket” reunites Brickell with the band that broke onto the scene in 1988 with the Top 10 hit “What I Am” but released only three records in the 30 years since then. Brickell went on to a solo career, married Paul Simon and more recently collaborated with Steve Martin on a pair of bluegrass records and the Broadway musical “Bright Star.”

The New Bohemians remained close, playing one-off shows over the years, eyeing the right time to record again. Brickell promises “Rocket” is the start of a renewed commitment to the band, with more records to come.

That’s great news.

Their joy in recording together again is clear on “Rocket,” a record that touches on a variety of musical styles with ease.

Brickell’s effervescent vocals never sounded better than with the New Bohemians backing her. How fun is it to hear Brickell singing “Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, you’re the man” on “Superhero”? It’s a standout track with an infectious, freight-train chugging guitar riff from Kenny Withrow.

The answer to the question posed by the first single, “What Makes You Happy,” is clear for Brickell and the New Bohemians. You can hear it, too, by listening to “Rocket.”

—Scott Bauer, Associated Press

John Hiatt

Album: “The Eclipse Sessions”

Grade: B

At age 66, John Hiatt is still writing love songs – and good ones. On “The Eclipse Sessions,” he sings about the wonder of love, the trouble with love, flowering love and faded love.

Not that Hiatt has turned syrupy. Wry lyrics provide a bulwark against sentimentality, and the Indiana native’s untethered corn belt tenor is the perfect delivery system. “If you want me, baby, I’m over the hill,” he sings.

Last year’s solar eclipse during the recording sessions gave the album its name, and from near total darkness came sunny performances with a live feel. Hiatt’s voice and acoustic guitar are front and center, and as usual he’s accompanied by a terrific guitarist. This time it’s Yates McKendree, son of the album’s producer, Kevin McKendree.

There are fetching melodies and rhythmic wrinkles characteristic of Hiatt’s best work. He rocks, sings the blues and digs deep, especially on the autobiographical closing cut, “Robber’s Highway,” which he wrote while battling writer’s block. The rest of the album followed, with Hiatt finding inspiration doing the romance dance.

—Steven Wine, Associated Press