Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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 /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From 12.49€/month
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Organ, Melodica, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, English Horn, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Horn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Drums, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Organ, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Eetu Seppälä, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Drums, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, Foot Stamping, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
ELVIS COSTELLO, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Frisell, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Drums, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Organ, Piano, Trombone, Trumpet, Recording Engineer, Synthesizer, Baritone Guitar, Recording Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Synthesizer, Voices, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Eetu Seppälä, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Andy Razaf, ComposerLyricist - Thomas "Fats" Waller, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nieve, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Bass Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Vocals, Synthesizer, Drum Programming, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Eetu Seppälä, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Composer, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Author, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Muriel Teodori, Composer - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Bass Clarinet, English Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Organ, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Flute, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Nick Movshon, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Nels Cline, Steel Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Frisell, Guitar, Organ, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Piano, Trumpet, Recording Engineer, Recording Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Danton Boller, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Bullock, Alto Flute, AssociatedPerformer - Emily Hope Price, Cello, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Organ, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Sebastian Krys, Producer, Recording Producer - Steve Nieve, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - ELVIS COSTELLO, Producer, Vocals, Recording Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - François Delabrière, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Pierre-François Dufour, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Renaud Gabriel Pion, Bass Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - AJUQ, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Mickaël Gasche, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Album review
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 /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:52
- Main artists: Elvis Costello
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Concord Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 2020 Elvis Costello ℗ 2020 Elvis Costello
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.
Playlists