Elvis Costello & Sebastian Krys Remodel The Album This Year’s Model, Into Spanish Model
Elvis Costello and longtime collaborator, 18-time GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY® award-winning producer, Sebastian Krys, have brought together a stunning international cast of some of the biggest Latin rock and pop artists from around the globe to interpret Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ album, This Year’s Model, entirely in Spanish. The inspired Spanish-language adaptations are set to the band’s classic studio performances, culled from the original master recordings, which have been newly mixed by Krys, revealing a new power and intensity to The Attractions’ 1978 instrumental performances. The mixes, sometimes running on, allow us to now hear “What Happened Next:” Costello and Mick Jones of The Clash lock dueling rhythm guitars in a thrilling coda to “Pump It Up” or Pete Thomas almost demolishing his drum kit at the end of “No Action.” There is even the occasional vocal cameo appearance by the bandleader, but the album can now be enjoyed in an entirely new way. Spanish Model is set for release September 10 on UMe.
As Costello and Krys began to think of artists that would be a good fit, they discovered that This Year’s Model was an important record to many artists in the pan-Latin world, but its true nature had never been fully appreciated because of the language barrier. They enlisted many Costello fans, a few who Krys and Costello felt would be a great fit for the song, and all of whom have stellar careers and were excited to participate and bring their own styles to the immediacy and poignancy of the original songs, helping to create an entirely new listening experience.
Spanish Model features such artists as: Cami, Draco Rosa, Fito Páez, Francisca Valenzuela & Luis Humberto Navejas (lead singer of Enjambre), Gian Marco & Nicole Zignago, Jesse & Joy, Jorge Drexler, Juanes, La Marisoul, Luis Fonsi, Morat, Nina Diaz, Pablo López, Raquel Sofía & Fuego, Sebastián Yatra, and Vega. They sing these timeless and universal songs, which have been expertly translated and adapted into Spanish to retain their meaning, energy, attitude, and wit. The concept represents what may be a first: an artist replacing their vocals with newly recorded performances by other artists singing in another language, backed by the original music.
