Joe Jackson as Max Champion

Joe Jackson has channeled a new persona for What a Racket!  The album celebrates the songs of one Max Champion, a mysterious English music hall star of the early 20th century. "These were wonderful songs in their time, but they're surprisingly modern, too," Jackson comments in the press release. "Sometimes it's almost as if Max is speaking, from his London of the early 20th century, directly to us in the early 21st."  Hmm...What a Racket!, featuring the vocalist accompanied by a 12-piece band, arrives on CD, LP, and digital formats.