Elvis Costello National Ransom

• “National Ransom”
• “Jimmie Standing in the Rain”
• “Stations of the Cross”
• “A Slow Drag With Josephine”
• “Five Small Words”
• “Church Underground”
• “You Hung the Moon”
• “Bullets for the New-Born King”
• “I Lost You”
• “Dr Watson, I Presume”
• “One Bell Ringing”
• “The Spell That You Cast”
• “That’s Not The Part of Him You’re Leaving”
• “My Lovely Jezebel”
• “All These Strangers”

The former quintessential angry young singer-songwriter will touch on bluegrass on this release, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett. It features backing by his longtime band the Imposters and was reportedly recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles in a mere eleven days. Also featured will be the Sugarcanes, a bluegrass ensemble Costello put together to back him on his 2009 release Secret, Profane & Sugarcane. The album’s lyrics look at the current financial crisis as viewed through the eyes of old time singers from the 1930s. Costello’s originals will sit alongside a pair of tunes co-written with Jim Lauderdale and Burnett.

Abstract by Tony Sclafani