Elvis Costello’s method with phrases has produced any variety of memorable deft phrases and adroit pictures. If we point out the one during which he speaks double Dutch to an actual double duchess, or thinks concerning the outdated days of Liverpool and Rotherhithe, many followers will instantly know that we’re remembering “New Amsterdam.” This third single from Get Comfortable!! entered the UK chart on June 7, 1980.
That February, Get Comfortable!! emerged as Costello’s fourth album, and third with the Sights. It was accompanied by his cowl of Homer Banks’ “I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down),” beforehand successful for Sam & Dave. The retro-soul really feel was continued by the follow-up 45 “High Fidelity,” so the discharge of the extra light and reflective “New Amsterdam” represented fairly a gear change. Earlier than the top of the 12 months, Elvis was again in additional upbeat temper with “Clubland,” as he launched his subsequent album, Belief.
The Costello-Lowe coalition
However for now, “New Amsterdam” graced the UK airwaves to exhibit the flexibility of each Costello and his producer Nick Lowe. However lyrics whose that means continues to trigger debate amongst followers, it has remained a much-played music in Elvis’ reside set.
Hearken to the very best of Elvis Costello on Apple Music and Spotify.
The recording featured on the album was really Costello’s solo demo, on which he performed all of the devices. The Sights’ try and recreate its ambiance was missing one thing, and didn’t emerge till the LP’s 2003 deluxe reissue. The one entered the UK chart at No.47 and peaked the next week at No.36, in a six-week run.
Containing a few of the artist’s most piquant wordplays of the time, “New Amsterdam” landed at No.10 in a 2017 Every day Telegraph characteristic on his finest songs, during which “Oliver’s Army” was No.1. A High 20 piece in American Songwriter in 2013 positioned it at No.15.
Purchase or stream “New Amsterdam” on Get Comfortable!!.
