Hey Clockface

Hey Clockface is the 31st studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 30 October 2020 by Concord Records.

Critical reception
Hey Clockface received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 78, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave Hey Clockface a positive 4-star review, stating that the record shows "Costello's mastery of mood and storytelling". Writing for Pitchfork, Daniel Felsenthal noted that Hey Clockface merges the "potentially divergent sensibilities" of "driving, ageless rock" and "conventions of the American songbook" into "an adventurous set of songs about time's ceaseless march....Alone, either style might have seemed like predictable genre play for Costello at this stage in his career, but together, they make for an album that's energetic and consistently surprising."

Personnel
Helsinki recordings (tracks 2, 6, 9)
 * Elvis Costello – all voices and instruments

Paris recordings (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14) Le Quintette Saint Germain:
 * Elvis Costello – voice, guitar, snare drum, bass, piano
 * Steve Nieve – grand piano, upright piano, organ, mellotron, melodica
 * Mickaël Gasche – trumpet, flugelhorn, serpent
 * Renaud-Gabriel Pion – contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, B♭ clarinet, tenor saxophone, bass flute, cor Anglais
 * Pierre-François "Titi" Dufour – cello, foot stomps
 * AJUQ – drums, percussion, harmonies

New York recordings (tracks 4 and 12)
 * Elvis Costello – voice via electrical wire
 * Michael Leonhart – trumpet, drums, guitar, synthesizer, bass, organ, trombone, piano, surdu
 * Bill Frisell – guitar, loops
 * Nels Cline – guitar
 * Nick Movshon – drums
 * Emily Hope-Price – cello
 * Chris Bullock – alto flute
 * Danton Boller – acoustic bass fill