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National Ransom
Rock · 2010 · 15 tracks · 59m

National Ransom

Elvis Costello

A sprawling, sepia-toned collection of character studies. Costello trades new wave bite for acoustic grit, blending bluegrass, vaudeville, and high-literary folk.

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It's like Elvis Costello found a time machine and decided to record a folk-rock opera in 1932.

A dense, sepia-toned exploration of historical ghosts and modern anxieties told through rustic, acoustic arrangements.

National Ransom · vs · Elvis Costello
Cabin In Woods+3.0σ

Cabin In Woods saturates this record far more than the artist's norm.

Tracklist · 15 Tracks · 59m
01
National Ransom
4:05
02
Jimmie Standing in the Rain
4:15
03
Stations of the Cross
4:58
04
A Slow Drag With Josephine
2:43
05
Five Small Words
4:45
06
Church Underground
5:02
07
You Hung the Moon
3:55
08
Bullets for the New‐Born King
3:35
09
I Lost You
2:56
10
Dr. Watson, I Presume
3:41
11
One Bell Ringing
3:37
12
The Spell That You Cast
2:32
13
That’s Not the Part of Him You’re Leaving
4:43
14
My Lovely Jezebel
2:31
15
All These Strangers
5:53
Moments Worth Waiting For
The transition from the title track's frantic rock energy into the music-hall melancholy of Jimmie Standing in the Rain.
The haunting, skeletal arrangement of Bullets for the New-Born King that feels like a ghost story told in a whisper.
The way the fiddle and mandolin intertwine on I Lost You, creating a timeless bluegrass porch-stomp feel.
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