The Boy Named If is the 32nd studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and The Imposters. The album was released on 14 January 2022 by EMI Records and Capitol Records.[2][3]
| The Boy Named If | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Elvis Costello and The Imposters | ||||
| Released | 14 January 2022 | |||
| Recorded | 2021 | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 51:58 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer |
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| Elvis Costello and The Imposters chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Boy Named If | ||||
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The album's first single, "Magnificent Hurt" was released on October 27, 2021. Stereogum's Tom Breihan described the track as a "a straight-up rocker" and compared it to his late 70s work.[4]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| American Songwriter | |
| Classic Rock | |
| Paste | 7.8/10[8] |
| Pitchfork | 7.5/10[9] |
| Slant Magazine | |
The Boy Named If received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 83, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 14 reviews.[5] Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that The Boy Named If was Costello's "purest doses of rock and roll since maybe Blood & Chocolate (1986)".[1]
All tracks are written by Elvis Costello.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Farewell, OK" | 2:54 |
| 2. | "The Boy Named If" | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Penelope Halfpenny" | 2:57 |
| 4. | "The Difference" | 3:45 |
| 5. | "What If I Can't Give You Anything But Love?" | 4:03 |
| 6. | "Paint the Red Rose Blue" | 4:46 |
| 7. | "Mistook Me for a Friend" | 4:13 |
| 8. | "My Most Beautiful Mistake" | 4:47 |
| 9. | "Magnificent Hurt" | 3:13 |
| 10. | "The Man You Love to Hate" | 4:53 |
| 11. | "The Death of Magic Thinking" | 3:31 |
| 12. | "Trick Out the Truth" | 4:53 |
| 13. | "Mr. Crescent" | 3:39 |
| Total length: | 51:58 | |
Musicians
Technical
| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] | 47 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] | 20 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] | 149 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] | 41 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] | 55 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] | 1 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] | 15 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[18] | 6 |
| US Billboard 200[19] | 200 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] | 34 |