Photo by Ray Di Pietro

Elvis Costello has released the fourth single from his upcoming album Hey Clockface, which is due out Oct. 30. The new song, “Hey Clockface/How Can You Face?,” came along with an official video.

The previous three singles from the album were recorded in Helsinki, Finland over three days in February 2020; “Hey Clockface,” on the other hand, was recorded a week alter in Paris. Costello is supported on the song by an ensemble dubbed “Le Quintette Saint Germain,” which includes Steve Nieve on piano, Mickaël Gasche on trumpet, Renaud-Gabriel Pion on clarinets, Pierre-François “Titi” Diufour on cello and AJUQ on drums.

“This is a song about picking an argument with time, the very clock face, either running too fast or too slow, depending on the company you keep,” said Costello via press release.

“None of our arrangements for this session were written down in advance,” he continued. “I sang the theme of “How Can You Face?” to Mickaël and we kicked off this take right away, quoting a few lines of the song in the tag… I sang live on the studio floor with the ensemble playing everything I wanted to hear and nothing that I didn’t.”

Watch the video for “Hey Clockface/How Can You Face Me?” below, and pre-order Hey Clockface here.