After Elvis Costello won a Best Traditional Pop Vocal Grammy for 2018’s punchy lounge-affair, “Under Lime,” the former new wave punkster is back with “Hey Clockface” (Concorde). It seems that ever since Costello joined forces with composer Burt Bacharach for 1998’s “Painted From Memory,” he’s been dabbling with more jazz-fused pop music and scattershot moods, here with brilliant effect. On “Clockface,” there’s a little something for everyone. “No Flag” will please the Costello faithful who long for the sneer and snot that propelled him to fame in the late ’70s. “I’ve got no religion/I’ve got no philosophy/I’ve got a headful of ideas that don’t seem to belong to me” he screeches. Elsewhere, EC zigs when he should have zagged; like a Jackson Pollack painting, he reaffirms that he’s a master at his craft. “They’re Not Laughing At Me Now,” is a lilting, wilting charmer, while “We’re All Cowards Now” could have been written 25 years ago. Costello once sang he used to be disgusted, now he tries to be amused. With “Hey Clockface,” it seems like it’s time for the latter.

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Diamonds might be forever, but Dame Shirley Bassey lasts even longer. At 83, the Welsh songstress holds the distinction of providing songs for three James Bond films: “Goldfinger,” the aforementioned, “Diamonds Are Forever,” and “Moonraker.” The legendary singer is back with “I Owe It All To You” (Decca). Billed as her “grand finale,” Bassey is a one-woman genre, bridging Broadway to Beyonce. The album opens with Queen’s “Who Wants To Live Forever,” as Bassey turns Brian May’s words into her own. This from the woman whose voice remains a magnificent retort to the choir teacher at her primary school in wartime Cardiff, who told her to “back off.” Her personal song choices for the record are diverse: “Maybe This Time,” from Cabaret gets the royal treatment, while “I Was Here,” by the Queen B herself, is quiet and ethereal.

“I want to leave my footprints on the sands of time/Know there was something that I left behind,” she croons. Of the new record, Bassey said, “My album is a celebration of 70 years in showbiz – 70 years of support from my fans and 70 years in music.” Schmaltzy, yes. Resistible? Hardly.

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Leave it to the industrious Loudon Wainwright III to reinvent himself as a 1920’s dance band crooner on his new album, “I’d Rather Lead A Band” (Search Party Records). Part flapper, part snapper, LWIII sounds like he’s having a helluva time. Backed by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, old Loudo is loose and hammy. The highlight, “I’m Going To Give It To Mary With Love,” features LWIII’s hilarious and lascivious interpretation, ripe with innuendo and subtlety. “I’ve got something that she’s fondest of/I know she’s had it before/because she is the gal all the fellows adore.” Displaying his comedic charms, LWIII is in his element, practically reinventing the genre on tracks like “Ain’t Misbehavin'” and “My Blue Heaven.” Fun and anti-nostalgic, Wainwright is the bee’s knees on this infectious and zany new record.

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