Hey Clockface

by Elvis Costello

Overview

Hey Clockface arrived quickly on the heels of Look Now, but where that 2018 album seemed constructed as classicist Elvis Costello, drawing upon his strengths as a melodicist and the muscle of his regular backing band the Imposters, this 2020 affair feels as if it was designed to surprise. It comes into focus quite slowly, with reeds and strings murmuring in a quiet drone before Costello launches into the spoken word of "Revolution #49." The spell is broken in a flurry of gnarled guitars that usher in "No Flag," a transition that establishes how Hey Clockface doesn't follow any particular path. Apart from the slight emphasis on poetry -- it surfaces again toward the end of the album on "Radio Is Everything," a track destined to be played in the dead hours of a starless night -- none of the twists on the album are necessarily a new trick from Costello, but the its execution makes every new turn feel slightly surprising, occasionally jarring. Much of this has as much to do with the sequencing of the record as it does the performances themselves. The dense, clever boogie of "Hetty O'Hara Confidential" is followed by the torch song "The Last Confession of Vivian Whip," and the ominous crawl of "We Are All Cowards Now" is countered by a boisterous update of Fats Waller on the album's title track. The parts fit together, just in ways the ear isn't quite accustomed to hearing, and the same is true of many of the arrangements on Hey Clockface. The quieter moments require a listener to concentrate, then they're blown away by the cacophony, lured back in by a generous bit of old-fashioned merriment. It shows Costello's mastery of mood and storytelling, the kind of skill he's acquired over the course of a long career, but the key to Hey Clockface is that these techniques are applied to a record that's as restless as anything Costello made in his younger days. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2020
Label:	Concord Records
UPC:	0888072210530

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elvis Costello   Primary Artist,Drums,Noise,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Voices,Mouth Drums,Synthesizer,Drums (Snare),Guitar (Bass),Ampeg Baby Bass,Piano (Upright),Fender Jazz Bass,Guitar (Electric),Roland Synthesizer
Pierre-Francois Dufour   Cello
Mickael Gasche   Horn,Serpent,Trumpet,Flugelhorn
AJUQ   Cello,Drums,Percussion,Vocal Harmony
Danton Boller   Guitar (Bass),Bass (Acoustic)
Steve Nieve   Piano,Melodica,Keyboards,Fender Rhodes,Piano (Grand),Piano (Upright),Lowry,Organ
Michael Leonhart   Drums,Organ,Piano,Univox,Trumpet,Trombone,Synthesizer,Farfisa Organ,Guitar (Bass),Trumpet (Bass),Piano (Upright),Vox Continental,Guitar (Baritone),Guitar (Electric),Fender Stratocaster
Bill Frisell   Loops,Organ,Guitar
Nels Cline   Guitar (Steel)
Emily Hope Price   Cello
Nick Movshon   Drums
Chris Bullock   Flute (Alto)
Renaud Gabriel Pion   Flute,Clarinet,Contrabass,Cor Anglais,Sax (Tenor),Flute (Bass),Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass)

Technical Credits

Muriel Teodori   Composer
Brian Lucey   Mastering
Eetu Seppaelae   Engineer,Recording
Paul Silveira   Engineer
Andy Razaf   Composer
Elvis Costello   Composer,Producer,Drum Programming,Recording Producer
Steve Nieve   Composer
Fats Waller   Composer
Sebastian Krys   Mixing,Producer,Recording Producer
Michael Leonhart   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Horn Arrangements,Recording Producer,String Arrangements
Bill Frisell   Composer
Francois Delabriere   Engineer,Recording
Nels Cline   Composer