CostelloNews.com

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In just over two months, Elvis Costello will release North, his 24th album in 26 years. That's right -- two dozen albums since he blazed onto the scene, hanging tightly onto the coattails of the British new wave and punk invasion with his brilliant debut album, 1977's My Aim Is True.

But fans who show up at tonight's show with the hopes of hearing him showcase his new songs may be disappointed. North, written at the end of last year and recorded late this past spring, is, by all accounts, a richly textured album that features classical chamber ensemble the Brodsky Quartet, as well as a 34-piece orchestra (Costello conducted) and a lot of ballads on solo piano. Costello plays guitar on only one of the album's songs and fewer than a dozen bars at that. Hardly the upbeat stuff of Pump It Up or Watching the Detectives.

More likely, Costello's headline show tonight will feature, along with his older hits, songs from last year's When I Was Cruel release, his first collection of new material in six years.

"(North) begins with a song called 'You Left Me in the Dark' and ends with a track called 'I'm In the Mood Again,'" Costello said recently of his yet-to-be-released album. "You have to listen to what goes on in between to find out why.

"(It) will be something quite different."

Well, that almost goes without saying when it comes to Costello. The 48-year-old musician, almost universally hailed by critics as one of the smartest, most honest and creative songwriters around, has made a career of mixing it up.

His musical oeuvre is a Pandora's Box of genres based largely on the themes of women, guilt and revenge. With love as a metaphor for dissatisfaction and anger, soul, punk, ska, pop, reggae, classical and country have all found niches in his library. His current tour finds him sandwiching arena gigs between appearances at folk, blues and jazz festivals.

One result of this cornucopia is that Costello has never quite fit in anywhere. Still, when you consider a body of work that includes such brilliant songs as Alison, (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding, Shipbuilding, Man Out Of Time, Veronica and Everyday I Write the Book, it's somewhat surprising to discover that, in terms of record sales, he never really made it that big.

Costello will try again with North, an apt title considering he is preparing to walk down the aisle with Nanaimo jazz singer Diana Krall (third time lucky for Elvis?).

Hinting of a possible relocation to his fiancee's homeland, Costello's only public comment on the album's title was, "That's where I'm headed."

But a closer examination of the lyrics for the song, which isn't on the track list,but listed as a special bonus song available on the Internet, more explicitly explain his intentions:

"Up where polar bears and moose and geese will play. And some of them address you en francais. Give me the ice and snow. Time to go . . . North."

Love isn't the only thing going well for Costello lately. Last March he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And seven weeks ago, he received a Founder's Award for songwriting from performance rights organization ASCAP, joining such previous recipients as Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits and Quincy Jones.

"He seems very happy," said friend and collaborator Burt Bacharach, "and I wouldn't be surprised if that starts to come out in some of his lyrics."