11.05.2024
Elvis Costello on His 97-Song Collection, Past Love, and Why He Didn’t Sue Olivia Rodrigo for That “Brutal” Riff
Vanity Fair: Chris Smith: October 24th 2024.
In a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, the singer-songwriter
opens up about social media self-righteousness, his love of techno prog
rock, and creating King of America & Other Realms.
Elvis Costello slipped into the tiny restaurant without me noticing.
Maybe because he looked more like a Brooklyn dad than a rockstar, in a
sweater, navy blue with white stripes, and a trucker hat emblazoned with
the word Flirt beside a cockatoo. Eventually I found Costello sitting
quietly at a corner table, happily at work on his laptop.
Then he started to talk, and there was no mistaking who he was. Not just
because of the voice, instantly familiar to fans of Costello’s 39
albums. But because his distinctive and discursive answers to my
questions were a thrill ride, much like the songs Costello has been
recording ever since his first album, the landmark 1977 My Aim Is True.
The occasion for our nearly four-hour conversation was the imminent
release of a six-CD box set called King of America & Other Realms. It is
centered on Costello’s gorgeous and emotionally intricate 1986 album, a
record he says contains “some of the most plain-spoken verses I have
ever put into song.” Several of those King of America songs are
masterpieces, including “Brilliant Mistake” and “Indoor Fireworks.”