Steve Martin & Edie Brickell

Love Has Come for You

[Rounder]

Twenty-five years ago, the idea of a Steve Martin recording with Edie Brickell might have seemed like a disaster of New Coke proportions, but Love Has Come for You proves them to be a delightful creative duo. The album combines Brickell’s lyrics and smoky soprano with Martin’s intricate and evocative banjo melodies. Though they co-wrote these songs from opposite coasts, they truly meet in the middle, as Brickell’s lyrics paint vivid scenes of small-town life and oddball characters. The pair incorporates a wide spectrum of sounds and gets help from some diverse guest musicians—everyone from bluegrass greats the Steep Canyon Rangers and jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding to a boys’ choir and a string quintet. The result is a sophisticated, largely acoustic pop record that is a joy to hear. Martin and Brickell are a uniquely talented team, and given that they’ve begun working on a musical, it seems we haven’t heard the last from them. –Juli Thanki