Elvis Costello, 'National Ransom' -- New Song

The ever-prolific Elvis Costello is back with another tastefully unkempt, genre-bending new song, 'National Ransom.'

It's the title track from his upcoming album of the same name, which will be released on Nov. 2 in the US, a week earlier in the old country.

The up-tempo raucous country-rock blend of electric guitar, lap-steel and organ sounds very much like the work of the same angry, intelligent, pop-music loving punk Costello was when he brought us 'Pump It Up' nearly 30 years ago.

Lyrically, Costello describes the track as a rock and roll song "for the bankrupt times, whenever they might be." He's clearly got large scale financial irresponsibility in mind, as you can see from the album's cover art and the lyrics to 'National Ransom':

"Around the time the killing stopped on Wall Street / You couldn't hold me, baby, with anything but contempt / Meanwhile, we're working every day / Paying off the national ransom."

So far, only a select series of concerts has been announced in support of the new album, which, in a wonderfully odd move, will also be made available in the decades-old 78 rpm record format.

But don't worry, you can still get your kicks from 'National Ransom' in more modern methods, for example, over on AOL Radio's Adult Rock station.