The album title speaks for itself. Elton John unveiled Friday
The Lockdown Sessions
, a new studio album designed in the last eighteen months, mostly in confinement. “
Some recording sessions were subject to a very strict health protocol
,” Elton John explained on social media. He had to work with some of his collaborators "
separated by windows
"
.
Too torn with anxiety to focus on a single project, as
NME
reports
, the British singer has decided to record twenty-three collaborations, spread over sixteen tracks. From Stevie Wonder to Gorillaz via Lil Nas X, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj or Miley Cyrus, the record may seem superfluous at first glance, but Elton John has multiplied the duets, as contradictory as they are, for nearly sixty years careers. Thus, he went from rocker Pete Doherty to RuPaul, star of the American reality TV show of the same name.
Some tracks were listening long before
The Lockdown Sessions came out
.
Cold Heart
, featuring Dua Lipa, has been available since August. The lyrics are taken from
Sacrifice
, which appeared in 1989 on
Sleeping With The Past
, Elton John's twenty-second studio album. The current success of the electro track
Cold Heart
allows the 74-year-old artist to set a historic record: he becomes the first to place a single in the top 10 of the British charts over six different decades, thus dethroning Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson or David Bowie.
On September 25, during the Concert for the Planet at Champ-de-Mars in Paris, the title
After All
was sung for the first time live, with Charlie Puth alongside Sir Elton John. Then five days later on the listening platforms, Stevie Wonder finds his friend on
Finish Line
.
“I couldn't be more proud of
Finish Line,
”
Elton said in a statement.
“I'll even go so far as to say it's one of the best recordings I've ever made. Stevie's voice is as great as I remember it, he sounds like a 17 year old young man, he sings with such joy and exuberance in his voice.
"Pleasure shared by the latter:"
It is an honor and a joy to sing, play the harmonica and the piano for Elton! [...] Anyone who hears his voice on
Finish Line
will hear your wisdom, his pain, his love, but also his resilience ... I love this song!
".
The album alternates between new productions but also covers. Miley Cyrus, former face of Disney, chants with her hoarse voice the
Nothing Else Matters
of Metallica. Sex and punishment are explored in
It's a Sin
, a cover of the group Pet Shop Boys, from their album
Actually
in 1987. The title gives its name to the series of the same name, starring Olly Alexander, lead singer of the group Years & Years, also present alongside Elton John. Both met last May to perform on the stage of the Brit Awards.
Elton John will sing his new songs during the resumption of his farewell tour, launched in 2018 and interrupted by covid and for health problems.
Victim of a very painful fall at the end of the summer and had to undergo surgery
"as quickly as possible"
, his concerts scheduled for October 10, 12 and 13, 2021 at the Accor Arena in Paris are postponed to the 25, June 27 and 28, 2023.
