NEW YORK — Besides the fact that he’s still here, Elvis Costello’s fans can be grateful that he’s open to changing his mind.
While something short of a vow, Costello said in 2010 that he didn’t plan to record anymore. Yet on Friday, he releases “Look Now,” his second disc since that declaration. The lush showcase for his backing band, the Imposters, is musically inspired by Dusty Springfield’s “Dusty in Memphis” and is a renewed collaboration with Burt Bacharach.
That Costello, 64, is around to talk about it is because he was treated for what was described as a small, but aggressive form of cancer earlier this year.
The changing music business had taught Costello, like other older artists, that there was a diminishing return to recording.
“I didn’t feel like I could justify the vanity of making records, compared to making my living with what I do most of the time, which is do shows,” he said. “Up until that point, it had always been that (recording and touring) were connected, and it was just finding a way to disconnect them again.”
Thus began his “impresario years.” He’s had a handful of themed concert tours, including one accompanied by a game show-like “spinning songbook” that determined the set list.
– From news service reports
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