Brodsky Quartet
The Juliet Letters
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Brodsky Quartet
The Juliet Letters
Warner Bros., 1993
RiYL: Brodsky Quartet? Elvis Costello? There's really nothing like it. |
To make matters worse, the album was said to be a concept album centered around letters sent to Juliet Capulet care of the Verona post office. Quite a few adjectives came to mind. "Humble," "homespun," and "unpretentious" were not some of them. At the time, it was generally thought that Costello had finally completely alienated his audience, one whose patience had been worn thin by his last few releases. Nearly everyone hoped Elvis would get the album done and just move on.
What no one was prepared for, though, was what the album would actually sound like. Far from being a pretentious, boring piece of garbage, it turned out to be an energetic, haunting example of what can happen when a group of talented and dedicated musicians/songwriters gets together.
In some ways, The Juliet Letters defies classification. It is not a classical album and it's certainly not a rock album. Yet, there are elements of each in the mix. Fear not: It's not as if Costello is off in the corner with his electric guitar banging away while the Brodsky Quartet do their own thing. Costello wisely hangs up his guitars and lets the other musicians play the instruments.
But this doesn't mean he didn't help write the music. In fact, the majority of the songs were composed or co-composed by Costello. And conversely the Quartet also had a hand in writing the lyrics. It's truly a joint venture and the album is much stronger as a result. The Quartet is able to highlight the strong melodic writing of Costello that is often obscured on his other albums. And because there are often others writing the lyrics, there is a feeling that the songs are actual letters written by real people.
The songs range in emotions from the anger of "Swine" to the humorous "I Almost Had A Weakness" to the melancholy "This Sad Burlesque," and every emotion in between. The album is a little on the long side but it would be a shame to waste any of these songs. Each one is interesting in its own right and deserves a listen.
Easily the strongest track on the album is closer "The Birds Will Still Be Singing," a haunting song from the recently deceased to the living: "Eternity stinks, my darling / That's no joke / Don't waste your precious time pretending you're heartbroken / If I'm lost or I'm forgiven / The birds will still be singing." Like the rest of the album, the song is sad, romantic, hopeful and quite beautiful all at once.
This strange collaboration is quite a fruitful one and promises to go beyond just this album. Already The Brodsky Quartet has appeared on All This Useless Beauty and the live video "A Case For A Song." Both groups have hinted at future writing sessions. One can only hope their forthcoming efforts turn out as well as this one.
BRADLEY SMITH |