Elvis Costello has been releasing a series of singles this year and has now announced that they're all on a new album, Hey Clockface, that will be out October 30 via Concord Records. The album was recorded mostly in Paris, but also with sessions in Helsinki and New York. “I sang live on the studio floor, directing from the vocal booth,' Elvis says of the Paris sessions. "We cut nine songs in two days. We spoke very little. Almost everything the musicians played was a spontaneous response to the song I was singing. I’d had a dream of recording in Paris like this, one day."
The album features appearances from Attractions/Imposters keyboardist Steve Nieve, as well as Bill Frisell and Nels Cline, and the tracks that have been shared so far are distinctly modern in production. Elvis says, “I wanted the record to be vivid, whether the songs demanded playing that was loud and jagged or intimate and beautiful.”
He's just shared smoky new single "We Are All Cowards Now" which, like "Hetty O'Hara Confidential" and "No Flag," were recorded solo in Helsinki, and you can check out the lyric video for that below.
You can pre-order Hey Clockface now, and there are a dizzying array of packages and related merch available to choose from, including two different clocks, socks, boxers, notebooks, and of course vinyl and CDs.
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‘HEY CLOCKFACE’ tracklist: REVOLUTION #49 NO FLAG THEY’RE NOT LAUGHING AT ME NOW NEWSPAPER PANE (Elvis Costello / Michael Leonhart / Bill Frisell) I DO (ZULA’S SONG) WE ARE ALL COWARDS NOW HEY CLOCKFACE/HOW CAN YOU FACE ME? (Elvis Costello/Andy Razaf & Thomas Fats Waller) THE WHIRLWIND HETTY O’HARA CONFIDENTIAL THE LAST CONFESSION OF VIVIAN WHIP (Words: Elvis Costello | Music: Steve Nieve & Muriel Teodori) WHAT IS IT THAT I NEED THAT I DON’T ALREADY HAVE? RADIO IS EVERYTHING (Elvis Costello / Michael Leonhart / Bill Frisell / Nels Cline) I CAN’T SAY HER NAME BYLINE
