From left, producer Sebastian Krys, vocalist Nina Diaz and musician Elvis Costello reimagined a 1970s classic album.
Paul Moore/Courtesy of the Artist
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Paul Moore/Courtesy of the Artist
From left, producer Sebastian Krys, vocalist Nina Diaz and musician Elvis Costello reimagined a 1970s classic album.
Paul Moore/Courtesy of the Artist
Just about every musician will tell you that it’s always about the song. And by that I mean a great song is the fundamental building block for a songwriting career, a great album, even an artist’s legacy.
In 1978, British musician Elvis Costello released This Year’s Model, an album with his band that has more than stood the test of time. One reason is the way the record’s energy and attitude captured a moment in time during the late 1970s. The other reason? It’s full of great songs.
Recently, the prolific musician revisited the record with a novel idea: What if he re-recorded the vocals in Spanish over the original tracks? Enter Grammy-winning producer Sebastian Krys, a frequent Costello collaborator, who gathered 19 vocalists to re-examine the power, the fury and the passion of the original album.
The album features a who’s who from across the Latin music spectrum, from Jorge Drexler to rocker Nina Diaz to La Marisoul from La Santa Cecilia to the enigmatic Puerto Rican musician Draco Rosa to global superstar Juanes, just to name a few.
This week I talk to Elvis Costello and Sebastian Krys about the inspiration behind the project, get their take on how the songs were interpreted by the various artists, and how the passions of a 20 year old can carry on to become the passion of someone of … a certain age.