Last time Elvis Costello collaborated with T-Bone Burnett on an album, it was King of America, one of his best. This one is not. It's a relaxed, sweetly acoustic-based album that leans too heavily on those traits. It comes off as a friendly gathering of musicians playing. Yet the atmosphere works against it. By being a ramshackle collection of old and new songs ("Complicated Shadows" and "Hidden Shame" were previously released Costello songs, four others were previously composed for a play that was never finished), it feels inconsistent. "Complicated Shadows" is exactly what one would expect of an acoustic version, for example. I do like "She Was No Good," though, despite a staged-feeling kind of rowdiness. "Sulphur to Sugarcane" is probably the most memorable thing on here. Much like Dylan's new album this year, it's not a work that shoots for the stars, so when it comes up short, it's not horrible.
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