Elvis Costello has taken to his Web site to reveal the story behind "Momofuku," his new album that was released exclusively on vinyl today (April 22).

The album includes a download card that can be activated on May 1; a CD release follows on May 6 via Lost Highway.

"The absence of much advance notice or information might seem a little strange and perverse but the record was made so quickly that I didn't even tell myself about it for a couple weeks," Costello says.

The sessions for "Momofuku" were inspired by work Costello did on Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis' forthcoming solo album, which featured Costello's Imposters bandmates Davey Faragher (bass) and Pete Thomas (drums).

Afterward, he booked a Los Angeles studio for six days in February to record eight newly written songs. One other song, "Song With Rose," sports lyrics co-written with Rosanne Cash, while "Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve" came out of a writing session with Loretta Lynn last year.

Thomas' daughter Tennessee, who plays drums in the Like, guests on "Stella Hurt," while Lewis and her beau Johnathan Rice contributed to a number of the tracks. As many as nine musicians played on "Turpentine" and "Song for Rose," which Costello calls "a fine old noise."

"Every record has its own method. This was the one for these songs," Costello says. As for the unusual name, it is not related to the hip New York restaurant Momofuku Noodle Bar, bur rather "a tribute to Momofuku Ando, the inventor of the Cup Noodle. Like so many things in this world of wonders, all we had to do to make this record was add water."