Elvis Costello Drops New Single, ‘The Boy Called If’ LP Set For January

Coming on January 14th is Elvis Costello & The Imposters' latest album, The Boy Called If. The new set, which is Costello's 32nd album, is the followup to 2020's Hey Clockface. Costello has dropped a teaser from the new album, titled, “Magnificent Hurt.”

Elvis Costello said in a statement announcing the new album:

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 new single, 'Magnificent Hurt,' is just one of the urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, guitar solos that sting, and a quick step to the rhythm.

Elvis Costello told us that upon launching his career, he never set out to change or break the rules of rock and pop songwriting and recording: “I was just making rock n' roll records as I knew how to make 'em and ballads and all the music that I loved. And obviously over the years, the things that I can draw from has grown, because I've listened to more music, I've absorbed more music, more music has interested me. I've written a lot of different things, I've had all these collaborations of different kinds — some of them very far away from the world that I began in. But they've all sort of had some positive influence on the possibilities of music when I set out to write and arrange.”