I can’t keep myself from plunging back into Elvis Costello’s “Look Now,” picking out favorite tracks and trying the ones that didn’t immediately hit me.

Forty years after his second, “This Year’s Model,” Elvis proves he’s a man for all seasons. Who would expect an album as good as “Look Now” in 2018 after our four decades together?

Elvis was always obsessed with Burt Bacharach. Even when he was trying out “Pump it Up” or “I’m Not Angry,” early fans will recall he was singing “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” as encores. The Bacharach-David Dionne Warwick hit turned up on his early bootlegs and was on many of my mix tapes. Elvis strove for dreamy melodies– his own biggest song was “Alison.”

Mid way through his career, he teamed up with Bacharach for the album “Painted from Memory,” which still stands as a highlight of his amazing canon. So why not return for inspiration to the land of “Promises, Promises,” combining with the Imposters (the Attractions minus one). The plus side is that Bacharach, at 90, plays piano on two of the tracks. You can’t do better than that.

So “Look Now” takes the best of the pre-“Painted” Elvis sound and warmly mixes it with the jazzy cocktail Burt. Shake, stir, however you please, this cocktail has a kick. The songs are largely from characters’ voices, with a swerve and punch that makes them memorable. You will find yourself humming couplets from “Why Won’t Heaven Help Me?” and “Stripping Paper” while rock head banging to “Under Lime” and “Unwanted Number.” You can’t help yourself. “Suspect My Tears” is a Philly soul gem. Dig that falsetto!

There are also a couple of ballads– “Don’t Look Now” and “Photographs Can Lie”– that summon Elvis’s best singing. I’ve been a fan of “You Shouldn’t Look at me That Way” since it appeared last year in “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.” Also, “The Final Mrs. Curtain,” from the run-over CD, finds Elvis at his linguistic best. You want to rock? “Mr. and Mrs. Hush” brought me all the way back to the days of “Trust” and “Clubland.” Get up and dance.

Listen to this album on a stereo– you can find one– and turn it up. And thank goodness for Elvis Costello, who’s remained a nimble musical genius for more time than we deserved.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall Thursday at the White House.

Kanye West is booked for lunch. He’s on a career suicide campaign, jettisoning any fans he might have had as he supports Donald Trump. Kanye recently announced but didn’t deliver an album called “Yandhi” maybe because he realized — or someone told him– no one wanted it.

Around the same time as lunch– 11:45am– Trump is scheduled to sign the just passed legislation called the Music Modernization Act. This law will give money to the people who sang and wrote hit songs prior to 1972 an equal footing with their modern counterparts in the digital world. Among the people scheduled to watch this are NARAS/Grammy chief Neil Portnow, R&B great Sam Moore, country star John Rich, and other folks from the music business.

Of all the foul things Trump has done, this may be considered his one achievement for the arts. Streaming and digital services won’t like it because they will have to pay for most of their music.

Will the Trump team conflate Kanye and the music people? Will they trot Kanye out for this signing celebration? West is one of the great Samplers of all time. He combs the archives of pre-1972 music to find things he can “interpolate”– in other words, appropriate– and pretend they’re his own songs. For example: Trade Martin’s 1965 song “Take Me for a Little While” is currently posing as a song called “Ghost Town” on Kanye’s latest EP, called “Ye.” Most of Kanye’s “songs” are taken from pre-1972 music. Maybe he can explain that to Trump.

Portnow should be thrilled to see Kanye. The rapper-slash-sneaker designer is famous for mocking the Grammy Awards and causing problems at and with the show.

Fun times!

It’s Wednesday morning. So far, the Lady Gaga-Bradley Cooper soundtrack album to “A Star is Born” has sold 131,000 copies since Friday.

According to hitsdailydouble.com, total sales by Thursday night will be around 200,000. That will make it number 1 for the week.

Most of those copies are CDs and digital downloads. The streaming part of the sales is minor.

Readers of this column aren’t surprised. I’ve been telling you that since Friday, Gaga and/or Cooper have held down around 16 positions on the iTunes singles chart. Right now, the number is 13 including Cooper’s solo hits. The album has been number 1 since Friday as well.

And don’t forget, Lady Gaga is featured on Nile Rodgers’ new Chic album singing “I Want Your Love.”

The Jingle Ball is coming. Yes, it’s that time of year. I Heart Radio, formerly Clear Channel, rounds up all the big top 40 acts of the year and sends them on the road for a jukebox tour of America. Each act does a few songs, teenage girls scream, and lots of merchandise is sold. It’s always been a lot of fun.

But this year, maybe not so much. The main stars are Shawn Mendes (talented, yes), Cardi B (an attraction), and Calvin Harris (deejay, ex boyfriend of Taylor Swift). Also featured, in different cities, Alessia Cara (one hit, “Scars”), Marshmello, Khalid, and in a couple of major markets, Camilla Cabello.

This year’s Jingle Ball is not every exciting. That’s not the fault of the promoter. It’s just a generation has aged out. Taylor Swift and Katy Perry are old, as in o-l-d. Demi Lovato is old and in rehab. Justin Bieber is married, maybe having a nervous breakdown, buying mansions. Ariana Grande is engaged, taking it easy, not into it. Charlie Puth? He’s over it, too, I guess. And where is that South Korean boy band?

Who you’re not going to see this year: Drake, the best selling artist of the last 12 months, or Kendrick Lamar.

That Cardi B is who the Jingle Ball is relying on says a lot. She’s an attraction, not an artist. She’s what they call a novelty act. Mendes looks like he’s carrying the weight of the tour to major cities and even minor ones. Well, he’s 20, he has the energy, he can take it.

But pop looks pretty pooped from this selection. And rock is just about dead. Hey– there’s always next year!

Barbra Streisand goes after Donald Trump in the video to her catchy and effective new song, “Don’t Lie to Me.” The refrain is “How do you sleep” and the last line is “Everyone answers to someone.” Streisand directed the new video from her own concept. What I also like is that this is a contemporary rock record, something Streisand rarely does anymore.