Clearly, the days of lengthy sessions in diamond-encrusted studios are over. And for ol’ Elvis, whose hastily recorded new disc is named after the inventor of instant noodles, it’s back to basics — and to some of his best pop songwriting for some time. It’s also back to beginnings, judging by the Vox and AceTone organs on “Go Away” and “American Gangster Time”; the disc is even being marketed, primarily, as a vinyl double album. Flirtations with mild psychedelia (“Turpentine,” “Stella Hurt” and the Beatles-esque “Mr. Feathers”) abound, but it’s the samba number “Harry Worth” that, with its dour advice to newlyweds (“It’s not very far from tears to mirth / and not many moments that will capture your breath”), suggests that the honeymoon with a certain celebrity wife may be over. Seems recording out in the doghouse works very well for Costello — could this be the beginnings of a prolific new phase for him?

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