The globally renowned English singer and musician Elton John has announced another album which has many other popular singers including Dua Lipa, rapper Lil Nas, Miley Cyrus and others.
The news was announced by the singer himself on Wednesday with a video that he shared on his social media platform. Elton John, popularly known as the Rocket Man, told via the video that he is releasing his newest album titled “The Lockdown Sessions,” on 22nd October.
As the name of the album suggests, the album was made during the lockdown. John shared that he had a “really fantastic journey” while making this album during the lockdown.
Sharing the announcement on Instagram, John wrote, “The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album. But, as the pandemic went on, one‐off projects kept cropping up.” He continued, “I’ve ended with a selection of really interesting and diverse stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory.”
Moreover, John also talked about his experience while creating the entire album on the video, stating that he had not planned to do any kind of music during the lockdown. The Rocket Man said, “During lockdown, I never thought I was going to make any music whatsoever.” However, as he spent the lockdown in LA, he had a chance to meet and collaborate with artists like Charlie Puth, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus and others.
“But, during lockdown in Los Angeles… I got to meet Charlie Puth and I wrote a song with him… I played piano on Miley Cyrus’s Metallica cover of ‘Nothing Else Matters… I did Glenn Cambell and then I did Lil Nas X.”
Working with these artists during lockdown inspired John to make it into an album. He further stated, “I thought ‘You know… ive got half an album here… it’s really really exciting’ So I thought ‘what can I do?’” Holding on to that thought, John went back to Los Angeles and he worked with Andrew Watt, who did Miley Cyrus’ Metallica cover…”
“We went into the studio with no expectations whatsoever… But we came out with a list of people that I wanted to work with.”
The album “The Lockdown Sessions” has 16 tracks, out of which, 10 tracks are unreleased. As told by John, the album consists a track with Young Thug and Nicki Minaj. The other tracks features Brandi Carlile, whom John called “one of my heroes.”
The other collaborators include Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, SG Lewis, Jimmie Allen and others. The recently released song by Dua Lipa called “Cold Heart” is also in the album, the song is already doing well.
This new album by Elton John is going to be very versatile as the musician has collaborated with singer and artists from all kind of genres, from pop to rap. John said, “The songs vary so much. I mean there is rap, there’s country, there’s rock & roll, there’s dance…”
Shining a light on how far he had come, the announcement by John on Instagram further read, “I realized there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded of that. I’d come full circle: I was session musician again. And it was still a blast.”
Tagging each and every artist that John has collaborated with on this album, the multiple Grammy winner said, “I’m thrilled with every single track and I love and thank every single artist that I worked with because I had so much fun. And to have fun during lockdown is a privilege.”
Moreover, during a press release, John also gave an insight on how they all managed to record during lockdown from their homes. John told, “Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I’d obviously never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist, but separated by glass screens.”
According to John, this upcoming album, which he never thought in a million years, is very special. The singer says that it’s a dream come true.
Other than that, John simultaneously clarified about his another album which will be an Elton John and Bernie Taupan record. He said that he already has the lyrics for it and both the artists are extremely excited for that project.
Besides, as the news was announced by John, the other artists featured on the album also shared the news on their respective social media accounts.
Sharing his own experience with the announcement, Charlie Puth wrote, “One day @eltonjohn came over to my house. We didn’t think we were going to write a song that day. He sat down at my Rhodes keyboard and said “how about this“? When you listen to “After All”, the first thing you’ll hear is that very Rhodes playing the melody of the song. It was the first thing he played, like it just fell out of the sky.
“My mouth dropped,” wrote Charlie. “The whole skeleton of the song was then written in about 15 minutes. Elton‘s musical genius and presence brought so much inspiration and joy to me that day, especially in a time when it seemed like the world was never coming back.”
“This is the song that started it all! I’m so honored to be a part of your album Elton, as you are a huge reason why I pursued music in the first place. And thank you to my right hand @jkash for lyrically bringing all of this together. I can’t wait for you to hear it. CP”
SG Lewis also took it to his Instagram to share the exciting news. Posting the announcement, Lewis wrote, “Unbelievably proud to be a part of this record, and grateful for the love and support you’ve shown me and my music. What an honour @eltonjohn love you! ’Orbit’ from ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ co written with Elton & @frances_music out 22nd October”
