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The great bespectacled, post punk, bard has reinvented himself down the years as a pop craftsman, country crooner, jazz purist and bluesy soulster, but his Noughties incarnation as Elvis Costello And The Imposters took him back to his rock roots. After collaborating with Burt Bacharach on the album The Sweetest Punch (1998), Costello's trademark bristling, acerbic lyrics and angular pop hooks were back in full force on the album When I Was Cruel (2002), a top twenty hit in both the US and UK. He collaborated with Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris and soaked up deep Americana influences on its follow-up The Delivery Man (2004) before leaving the band behind to work on albums with jazz pianist Marian McPartland and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. Named after the inventor of instant noodles, his third album with The Imposters, Momofuku (2008), featured duets with Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis and writing credits for Roseanne Cash and Loretta Lynn. It captured the looser, more upbeat feel of The Imposters and showed just how relaxed and free to do as he pleases Costello has become at this stage of his career.
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