Elvis Costello will release a new album, Hey Clockface, on October 30th. It’s been over 40 years since the release of his first, 1977’s My Aim Is True, and two years since his most recent, 2018’s Look Now.  Hey Clockface was mostly recorded in the before times at studios in Helsinki, Paris and New York, though some tracks were assembled in pieces post-quarantine.   The different recording locations brought different musicians into the project, promising a wide spectrum of sound for the album’s fourteen tracks.

Costello has already released the three tracks recorded in Helsinki, where he worked on his own, playing all the instruments.   All dish up social and political commentary against edgy instrumentals.  Here are “No Flag” and “We Are All Cowards Now”.

If you want to hear the final track from the Helsinki trilogy, check out “Hetty O’Hara Confidential.”

Thinking back to My Aim Is True, every track was a classic in my book.  Here’s a 2011 performance of the romp, “Mystery Dance”, by Elvis and The Imposters.

In an online article in Variety, Costello mentions that while it didn’t work out for Hey Clockface, he’d like to get back together with Nick Lowe at some point.  Sounds like more albums to come.  “Don’t bury me ’cause I’m not dead yet.”