Elton John releases new album The Lockdown Sessions

(ANSA) - ROME, OCTOBER 18 - "I'm more enthusiastic about music now than I've ever been". At the age of 74, Elton John publishes a new album on October 22, The Lockdown Sessions, which collects songs recorded remotely, in the last 18 months, in collaboration with various artists of the world music scene, from Stevie Wonder to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

    "If you are my age and you still learn from other musicians, it is the greatest gift of all", said Sir Elton - recalls France Presse - in view of the hip operation that forced him to postpone several dates of his long tour of goodbye. . "If you turn off your mind and say you can't learn anything else ... this is the dead end."

    In March 2020, after the Farewell Yellow BrickRoad Tour was suspended due to the pandemic, Elton John began working on several projects with known artists during his "Rocket Hour" show on Apple Music. Thus one of the most daring and interesting discs was born: anticipated by the single 'ColdHeart (PNAU Remix)' with Dua Lipa, the album collects 16 tracks with 10 unreleased tracks and sees Elton collaborating with more than 20 artists, embracing many genres, generations, cultures, continents. . Five tracks from The Lockdown Sessions Elton John collaborates with Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt.

    "The last thing I expected to do during the isolation - 'Rocketman' explained - was to make an album. But as the pandemic progressed, one-off projects kept popping up. Some of the recording sessions had to be done at distance, via Zoom, which of course I hadn't done before. Some were recorded with very strict security rules. The sure thing is that all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and different, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone in completely new territory. And I realized that there was something distantly familiar about working this way. Early in my career, in the late 1960s, I worked as a session man. Working with different artists during the lockdown reminded me of this.I had come full circle: I was again unsession man. And it was still a blast ". (ANSA).