Costello rocks out from back porch
Elvis Costello’s 32nd album rings with the sound of a tight rock ’n’ roll combo sweating together on a tiny stage, feeding off each other to produce a joyful noise.
Yet that’s all a mirage. Costello and his threepiece band, the Imposters, were never in the same city, much less the same room, as they made “The Boy Named If,” which was recently released. They were waiting out the coronavirus, like everyone else, and looking to do something productive.
After writing, Costello would make an initial recording of a song with his vocals and guitar at his home in Vancouver. He would send it to Pete Thomas, who retreated to his basement in Los Angeles to add drums.
Bass player Davey Faragher was next, before it was sent to keyboard wizard Steve Nieve in France. Nicole Atkins added guest vocals on the song, “My Most Beautiful Mistake,” from a fifth location.
Occasionally they would jerry-rig a FaceTime connection so they could look at each other, although that wasn’t conducive to recording because of delays in each connection.
Producer Sebastian Krys, from his own home, “did a terrific job in making it sound not like it was something made with a construction kit,” Costello said.
“I think everybody surprised themselves how we found ourselves in our basement or spare room playing and it sounded so vibrant,” he said. “We didn’t let that hold us back. When we found out that it worked, it just spurred us on.”
When the weather was good in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Costello set up on his back porch, “which conjures up a much more laid-back sound than this record,” the singer said.
Indeed, “The Boy Named If ” crackles with energy, virtually all up-tempo songs driven by guitar. The arrangements demand a lot from Costello’s voice, and the underrated Thomas delivers some of his best drumming on record.
In the album’s liner notes, the band offers “special thanks from these louses to our spouses for letting us make all this racket around the houses.”
The disc’s title song provides a loose thematical frame to the collection of songs, creating the image
of a child’s imaginary friend if that extended into adulthood.
“I was drawing comparisons to the excuse that a child makes — ‘Oh, it was my imaginary friend that broke that,’ ” he said. “In the case of a child, it’s usually a cup or a vase, instead of a heart or some vow you’ve made.”
Costello, 67, has been busy during the pandemic. “The Boy Named If ” is his third release in 14 months, following the “Hey Clockface” album and “Spanish Model,” where Spanish-language singers replaced his vocals on his 1978 album “This Year’s Model.” He also released an EP of French versions of some “Hey Clockface” songs.