The boy named If

"On his 32nd studio album, Elvis Costello treats the traditional rock quartet as the ideal medium for delicacy, concision, wit, and the occasional harangue".

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"After the lavish reissue of 1979's Armed Forces in 2020, and last summer's reappraisal of This Year's Model with Spanish-language guest singers, The Boy Named If also locates itself very firmly in Costello's late-70s/early-80s purple patch. There's a real punch to most of the 13 songs here, the Imposters rocking hard and rolling back the years to infuse the taut arrangements with real urgency".

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"On his 32nd studio album, Elvis Costello treats the traditional rock quartet as the ideal medium for delicacy, concision, wit, and the occasional harangue".

Read review

"After the lavish reissue of 1979's Armed Forces in 2020, and last summer's reappraisal of This Year's Model with Spanish-language guest singers, The Boy Named If also locates itself very firmly in Costello's late-70s/early-80s purple patch. There's a real punch to most of the 13 songs here, the Imposters rocking hard and rolling back the years to infuse the taut arrangements with real urgency".

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"Elvis Costello omfavner sin fortid helhjertet og med forbløffende stærkt resultat på sit nye album 'The Boy Named If' ... Han har minsandten også på sit album nummer 26 eller 38 - optalt henholdsvis uden og med kollaborationer - præsteret at skrive en stribe sange, der kan hamle op med hans egen højeste standard ... Resultatet er blevet et forbløffende godt album ... Slet og ret Costello på toppen af sin kunst og kunnen".

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"Elvis og hans imposterssvende rocker så råt, punket og skingert, at udtrykket lyder som noget fra et ungt garageband. Det er kompromisløst og henkastet ... Halvdelen af albummet er energisk kværnende rock, der blafrer af spilleglæde, men som savner noget kompositorisk finesse ... Den anden halvdel eksponerer Costellos velkendte sangskriver-kvaliteter. Han er ømskindet og overbevisende i de poetisk blomstrede ballader ... Hvis englænderen skal genfinde sin mesterlige form, bør han skrue ned for sit spredte projektmageri og op for forædlet sangskrivning".

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"Elvis og hans imposterssvende rocker så råt, punket og skingert, at udtrykket lyder som noget fra et ungt garageband. Det er kompromisløst og henkastet ... Halvdelen af albummet er energisk kværnende rock, der blafrer af spilleglæde, men som savner noget kompositorisk finesse ... Den anden halvdel eksponerer Costellos velkendte sangskriver-kvaliteter. Han er ømskindet og overbevisende i de poetisk blomstrede ballader ... Hvis englænderen skal genfinde sin mesterlige form, bør han skrue ned for sit spredte projektmageri og op for forædlet sangskrivning".

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"Elvis Costello omfavner sin fortid helhjertet og med forbløffende stærkt resultat på sit nye album 'The Boy Named If' ... Han har minsandten også på sit album nummer 26 eller 38 - optalt henholdsvis uden og med kollaborationer - præsteret at skrive en stribe sange, der kan hamle op med hans egen højeste standard ... Resultatet er blevet et forbløffende godt album ... Slet og ret Costello på toppen af sin kunst og kunnen".

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"Costello and trusty trio hammer through a set of dark, guitar-fronted songs brimming with melody ... It's powerful and provocative stuff, and utter proof that Costello's creative fire is still raging. Against all reasonable odds, Elvis (at 67) sounds younger than yesterday".

"A songwriting great is in the form of his life: If any album was going to reignite passion for [Costello's] work, The Boy Named If is it. Sublimely crafted, incredibly well-played, there are all the reference points, yet it never sounds like a composite of old glories. The intelligence, urgency and immediacy of his 32nd album are a most welcome surprise".

"A songwriting great is in the form of his life: If any album was going to reignite passion for [Costello's] work, The Boy Named If is it. Sublimely crafted, incredibly well-played, there are all the reference points, yet it never sounds like a composite of old glories. The intelligence, urgency and immediacy of his 32nd album are a most welcome surprise".

"Costello and trusty trio hammer through a set of dark, guitar-fronted songs brimming with melody ... It's powerful and provocative stuff, and utter proof that Costello's creative fire is still raging. Against all reasonable odds, Elvis (at 67) sounds younger than yesterday".