Elvis Costello will release his new album, ‘The Boy Named If’, in January.
The 67-year-old musician and his band, The Imposters, are set to release their new record on January 14 next year, and is preceded by the release of Elvis’ new single, ‘Magnificent Hurt’, which dropped on Wednesday (27.10.21).
Elvis said of his new record: “The full title of this record is ‘The Boy Named If (And Other Children’s Stories).’ ‘IF,’ is a nickname for your imaginary friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own.
“You can hear more about this ‘Boy’ in a song of the same name.”
The album has been produced Elvis in collaboration with Sebastian Krys, and has been billed as a collection of thirteen snapshots that take listeners on a journey from “boyhood” to being told to “stop acting like a child”.
Elvis explained: “[The album] takes us from the last days of a bewildered boyhood to that mortifying moment when you are told to stop acting like a child – which for most men (and perhaps a few gals too) can be any time in the next fifty years.”
The record comes from EMI, with Capitol Records as the release partner in the US.
It will be available on vinyl, compact disc and cassette formats or as a download and on streaming services.
And Elvis hopes his new record will help people feel “a little less lonely”.
He said in a press release: “Whatever you take out of these tales, I wrote them for you and to make the life of these songs a little less lonely, if you should care to dive in a little deeper.”
‘The Boy Named If’ track listing is as follows:
1. ‘Farewell, OK’
2. ‘The Boy Named If’
3. ‘Penelope Halfpenny’
4. ‘The Difference’
5. ‘What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love?’
6. ‘Paint The Red Rose Blue’
7. ‘Mistook Me For A Friend’
8. ‘My Most Beautiful Mistake (ft. Nicole Atkins)’
9. ‘Magnificent Hurt’
10. ‘The Man You Love To Hate’
11. ‘The Death Of Magic Thinking’
12. ‘Trick Out The Truth’
13. ‘Mr. Crescent’