Elvis Costello will partner with The Roots on a new studio album, Wise Up Ghost. The collaborative project is slated for release on Tuesday, September 17 via Blue Note. A small number of test pressings were distributed as white labels on Record Store Day on April 20.

Most of the sessions took place at Feliz Habitat Studios “in the dead of night,” while others were in plain sight at Costello’s Hookery Crookery Studios. Costello described the record as “the shortest distance between here and there” and containing “both rhythm and what is read”. Roots drummer Questlove says, “It’s a moody, brooding affair, cathartic rhythms and dissonant lullabies. I went stark and dark on the music, Elvis went HAM on some ole Ezra Pound shit.”

The album was produced by longtime Roots associate Steven Mandel together with Costello and Questlove. Wise Up Ghost also features a guest vocal appearance on “Cinco Minutos Con Vos” from La Marisoul, lead singer of the Los Angeles group, La Santa Cecilia.

In addition to their musical accomplishments, both Costello and The Roots have been part of talk shows. Costello hosted the series Spectacle while The Roots are the house band on Late Night.