Photo Credit: Peggy Sirota

Elton John and Brandi Carlile have shared “Swing for the Fences,” the third single from their upcoming full-length shared album Who Believes in Angels? Due to release on April 4 via Interscope Records, the powerhouse duo’s new offering is a truly collaborative endeavor, featuring significant contributions from longtime collaborators Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt. Today’s single continues that format with a powerful and euphoric message drawn from the core duo’s shared experiences

On the origins of the blissed-out pop-rock anthem that boldly encourages listeners to “be a heartbeat cannon in a quiet spot,” Carlile reflects, “‘Swing For The Fences’ was a little gem I took into the studio with me: I’m a gay woman, Elton’s a gay man and we both have families, and our dreams have come true. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be cool to write an anthem for young gay kids out there that calls them into a bigger, more elegant, more fabulous life. Just like ‘go, go! don’t let anything hold you back!’”

“When we recorded ‘Swing For The Fences,’ it was the moment that crystallised where the album was going,” Elton offers, shining a light on the process behind Who Believes in Angels? “It was hard to get to that point, but we knew we had to rise to the occasion and we all just felt this massive sense of joy and euphoria. After our initial difficulties, all the uncertainties started to dissipate when this song came together. It just sounded great.”

Who Believes in Angels? was initially conceived by Elton, Brandi and Watt as an opportunity to expand both artists’ sonic palettes through close collaboration, balancing songs led by each and composed together in the studio. In October 2023, the team set up at Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound Studios with nothing prepared and dared to cut an album completely from scratch in 20 days. With lyrics from Taupin and Carlile, production and creative mediation from Watt and instrumental accompaniment from a tremendous band of Chad Smith, Pino Palladino and Josh Kilnghoffer, the ensemble pushed each other out of their comfort zones and crafted a project as personally transformative as it is sonically inventive.

The tumultuous and ultimately revelatory process that gave rise to the album is documented in a trailer cut from thousands of hours of video by static cameras around the studio. In passing glances, all the artists involved can be seen pouring their spirits into the work, dropping their guard and embracing an intense emotional experience. The fruit of this process is apparent across all three previews, which steer Elton and Brandi into enticing new sonic territory that grows naturally from their acclaimed discographies to bloom as something brand new.

Who Believes in Angels? is available to pre-order now; fans who pre-order the project will receive early access to tickets for ‘An Evening With Elton John & Brandi Carlile,’ which will join the icons onstage at The London Palladium on March 26.

Listen to “Swing for the Fences” here, and read on for the album’s complete tracklist.

 

 

 

 

 

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Who Believes In Angels? – Elton John & Brandi Carlile
The Rose Of Laura Nyro
Little Richard’s Bible
Swing For The Fences
Never Too Late
You Without Me
Who Believes In Angels?
The River Man
A Little Light
Someone To Belong To
When This Old World Is Done With Me