Elvis Costello Reunites With The Imposters & Burt Bacharach On New Album Look Now : Hear Two Songs

By Ryan Leas

Elvis Costello is one of those legacy artists who always seems to be around in some capacity, so it’s been easy to forget that a full five years have passed since his last release — Wise Up Ghost, his 2013 collab with the Roots. That’s about to change this fall. Costello’s just announced a new album called Look Now due out this October. More importantly, perhaps, it marks his first collection with the Imposters in 10 years, their last being 2008’s Momofuku.

Costello realized it was time to get the Imposters back in the studio while on the Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers tour last year. In fact, the 1982 album that tour spotlighted served as a spiritual influence on Look Now. “I knew if we could make an album with the scope of Imperial Bedroom and some of the beauty and emotion of Painted From Memory, we would really have something,” Costello said of his latest project.

While Costello penned most of the album’s 12 tracks, he also enlisted his old collaborator Burt Bacharach for a couple songs. (The other album Costello noted as an influence on Look Now, Painted From Memory, was a 1998 team-up between him and Bacharach.) Bacharach co-wrote and plays piano on “Don’t Look Now” and “Photographs Can Lie,” while also contributing to closer “He’s Given Me Things.” In addition, “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter” was written by Costello with Carole King.

While those songs may remain a mystery for a little longer, the announcement was accompanied by two previews of Look Now. They’re called “Under Lime” and “Unwanted Number.” The former in particular toes the line nicely between Costello’s snarly, lived-in new wave past and his tendency towards baroque pop, with horn-punctuated passages that feel awfully Beatles-esque. Check them out below.

TRACKLIST:

01 “Under Lime”
02 “Don’t Look Now”
03 “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter”
04 “Stripping Paper”
05 “Unwanted Number”
06 “I Let The Sun Go Down”
07 “Mr. & Mrs. Hush”
08 “Photographs Can Lie”
09 “Dishonor The Stars”
10 “Suspect My Tears”
11 “Why Won’t Heaven Help Me?”
12 “He’s Given Me Things”

Deluxe Special Edition Tracks:

13 “Isabelle In Tears”
14 “Adieu Paris (L’Envie Des étoiles)”
15 “The Final Mrs. Curtain”
16 “You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way”

Look Now is out 10/12 via Concord. Pre-order it here.

Credit: James O'Mara

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