01.25.2020
ELVIS COSTELLO ‘I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS MORE POP THAN ROCK’
The Herald: 25th January 2020.
TOMORROW, a month before he embarks on a tour of the UK with his band The Imposters that visits both Glasgow and Edinburgh at the start of March, Elvis Costello is surprised to find himself among the nominees at the Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
His album Look Now, released just days into the qualifying period to be eligible for this year’s prizes, way back in October 2018, is rubbing shoulders with recordings by John Legend, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble and Andrea Bocelli in the “traditional pop” category. That the first recording he’d released for eight years was even eligible for an award had bypassed everyone involved in making it.
“It was a big surprise, especially given the company that we are keeping,” Costello confesses. “I try to make good music but beyond that I don’t really want to describe it, although I’ve always thought of myself as more pop than rock. But it is as well that it is a music contest with Barbra — because if it was arm-wrestling, she’d win!
“Seriously, though, if being nominated means that some new people discover us and the record, that is only a good thing.”