Hey Clockface is the 31st studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 30 October 2020 by Concord Records.
Critical reception
Hey Clockface received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 78, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave Hey Clockface a positive 4-star review, stating that the record shows "Costello's mastery of mood and storytelling". Writing for Pitchfork, Daniel Felsenthal noted that Hey Clockface merges the "potentially divergent sensibilities" of "driving, ageless rock" and "conventions of the American songbook" into "an adventurous set of songs about time's ceaseless march....Alone, either style might have seemed like predictable genre play for Costello at this stage in his career, but together, they make for an album that's energetic and consistently surprising."
Track listing
Personnel Helsinki recordings (tracks 2, 6, 9) Elvis Costello – all voices and instruments
Paris recordings (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14) Elvis Costello – voice, guitar, snare drum, bass, piano Le Quintette Saint Germain: Steve Nieve – grand piano, upright piano, organ, mellotron, melodica Mickaël Gasche – trumpet, flugelhorn, serpent Renaud-Gabriel Pion – contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, B♭ clarinet, tenor saxophone, bass flute, cor Anglais Pierre-François "Titi" Dufour – cello, foot stomps AJUQ – drums, percussion, harmonies
New York recordings (tracks 4 and 12) Elvis Costello – voice via electrical wire Michael Leonhart – trumpet, drums, guitar, synthesizer, bass, organ, trombone, piano, surdu Bill Frisell – guitar, loops Nels Cline – guitar Nick Movshon – drums Emily Hope-Price – cello Chris Bullock – alto flute Danton Boller – acoustic bass fill
Charts + Chart performance for Hey Clockface Chart (2020) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. 174
References
External links