The last time Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett made an album
together was 1986’s King of America, Costello’s last great
record. Since then, Costello has settled into a sort of hipster sage,
while Burnett’s become the curator of tasteful Americana, scoring with
the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and Robert Plant and
Alison Krauss’ rootsy Raising Sand. Secret, Profane
& Sugarcane follows a similar template: unplugged, stylish,
subtle … and kinda boring when you peel away its classy shell. The
songs are a mix of old and new. Some were recorded by other artists
(Loretta Lynn covered “Down Among the Wine and Spirits”), and Costello
has even done some of them before (like “Complicated Shadows,” which
was on 1996’s All This Useless Beauty). Working with members of
the same crack band that backed Plant and Krauss, Costello glides
through a set of twangy country, laid-back folk and urbane pop. And
much of it’s refined to the point of dullness. — Michael
Gallucci
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2009.
