You have to let yourself not be embarrassed about rock 'n' roll. Sometimes you want to concentrate on a ballad, as I did in Paris for Hey Clockface. It never harms to get a reminder of what it feels like to do something thrilling. We were all excited to hear what the singers brought back to us in their adaptation - bearing in mind that the three of us have been working together 44 years, on and off. I think you'll find there are some tracks on Spanish Model where the band actually sounds more forceful. When Sebastian pushed the faders up in and around these different Latin artists singing adaptations of my lyrics from all that time ago, he found all sorts of power and energy in the band. I wasn't consciously trying to pick up the energy, but I'd had the pleasure of listening to Sebastian Krys' mix of Spanish Model, which involved listening to the original instrumental tracks that we cut 43 years earlier. The older we get, the less he's seen, leaving us to accept the blame alone. The searing lead guitar of 'What If I Can't Give You Anything But Love' is tempered with the glimmers of vulnerability found in lines like 'Don't fix me with that deadly gaze/It's a little close to pity.' Another highlight is the title track, an ode to a puckish invisible friend who takes the heat for our childhood misdeeds. A distant cousin of 'Pump It Up,' it's an obvious future classic in Costello's canon. The album's lead single, 'Magnificent Hurt,' could be a long-lost addition to the Nuggets garage rock compilation. The tone is set with 'Farewell, OK,' a gleeful kiss-off bolstered by an onslaught of slashing guitar, organ stabs and thundering four-on-the-floor rhythms. But unlike most quarantine albums, it's vibrant, unified and as un-claustrophobic as a cool breeze. As with most 'quarantine albums,' it was recorded remotely, with the bandmates spread across Canada, France and the United States, and assembled in a piecemeal process by co-producer Sebastian Krys. The Boy Named If pairs him once again with the Imposters, his crack band consisting of two members of his longtime backing group the Attractions - drummer Pete Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve - plus bassist Davey Faragher.

Elvis costello why can;t you tell me