Elvis Costello & The Imposters return with The Boy Named If, an album of urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, stinging guitar solos, and a quick step to the rhythm. Co-produced with Sebastian Krys, the 13 snapshots "...take us from the last days of a bewildered boyhood to that mortifying moment when you are told to stop acting like a child – which for most men (and perhaps a few gals too) can be any time in the next fifty years," as Costello put it. "The full title of this record is ‘The Boy Named If (And Other Children's Stories).' ‘If' is a nickname for your imaginary friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own." 

"I started The Boy Named If with just an electric guitar, some sharps and flats, high heels and lowdowns, with five songs in bright major keys and carried on to write a whole new record for The Imposters to play," Costello notes. Speaking of the recording sessions, Costello said, "The initial rhythm section for this record was my guitar and Pete Thomas' Gretsch drums, recorded down in Bonaparte Rooms West. Our Imposter pal of 20 years standing, Davey Faragher soon dialed in his Fender bass and vocals while we awaited dispatches from France. If the record sounded swell as a trio, Steve Nieve's organ was the icing on the cake, the cherry and the little silver balls."

And on the lyrical content of the record, Elvis shares, "Once upon a time, when I didn't know what a kiss could do and didn't even dare to caress, the way ahead was a mystery; a departing from that magic state called innocence for the pain that leads to pleasure and all that jazz. Don't get me started about the guilt and shame and all those other useless possessions that you must throw overboard before you set sail with your dreamboat (and a runcible spoon)."