The songs of Bacharach & Costello

"1998's immaculate collaboration expanded into a phantom musical, with unreleased covers and live cuts ... While so many artists of a certain age (...) end up resorting to the Classic Americcan Songbook in their dotage in order to find complicated love songs for grown-ups, Elvis Costello has already added to that canon. "These are songs people will be listening to in 20 years", the label boss told him when 'Painted From Memory' was released, as though pre-consoling him for its lack of commercial appeal. But right now it feels like the life of these songs is only just beginning".

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"When two songwriting greats combined: Bacharach's signature piano lyricism and playful compositional style are all over 'Painted From Memory', but Costello brings a more direct and nakedly emotional mindset to the words, compared to Hal David ... Reviews were mixed when 'Painted From Memory' came out in 1998, but the passing of time has given these numbers a grandeur and value to suggest they're among the most accomplished works in the Costello catalogue ... Already a writer of formidable talent, it's plain to hear from these recordings that Burt's lasting gift to Elvis was to make him an even better one".