The legendary Sir Elton John has officially released yet another album.
This new release, “Who Believes in Angels?” is a collaboration between John and 11-time Grammy Award winner Brandi Carlile. After meeting over 20 years ago through a letter Carlile sent John, the two have been almost inseparable ever since. Their unique voices and styles combine to create an upbeat album filled with influences from the past.
While promoting the album, John claimed it’s the best album he’s made since the early ‘70s. From 1970 to 1976, he released nine albums. This series of albums includes his self titled album, “Honky Château” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” all of which house some of his greatest hits ranging from “Your Song,” “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Long Time)” and “Bennie and the Jets.” For most, these are the highlights you think of when someone mentions Elton John. With such a bold statement, he has a lot to live up to. Not only for himself, but for Carlile’s success.
But dare I say, Sir Elton John has done it again, releasing his best work since the 70s.
The 10-song, 44-minute album possesses strong influence from John’s past discography. As a longtime fan, listening to this album was a treat, pinpointing the similarities between these new songs and those of the past.
The album opens with “The Rose of Laura Nyro.” The song features an extended musical intro, reminiscent of John’s 1973 track “Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding” from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” A tribute to one of John’s idols, Laura Nyro, the track honors her in both composition and lyric, incorporating her trademark time changes. The lyrics themselves talk of Nyro, “Hair black as coal. Sweet blindness in her eyes,” and mentions one of John’s favorite songs from her, “Eli’s Comin.’”
“Little Richard’s Bible” is another song that sounds like it could have featured on “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” This song made me realize how well John and Carlile’s voices meld together. Little Richard, a rock n’ roll pioneer, influenced John’s piano style. Richard, who had previously identified as gay, later denied it after having a coming to Jesus moment — something John and Carlile seem to poke at him in the lyrics, “Little Richard woke up wanting to cast off sex and idols.” Both John and Carlile identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. For them to produce a song about one of rock’s greatest hateful comments towards the gay community takes guts.
“Swing for the Fences,” one of the album’s singles, has a similar feel to John’s “Philadelphia Freedom.” Carlile’s voice is on full display. Creating a full album of duets is risky. You risk imbalance between the artists, and in this case, you have the voice of a 78-year-old meshing with a 43-year-old. Frankly, it sounds like it shouldn’t work in theory, and if you told me a 78-year-old and a 43-year-old were singing an entire album together with no other context, that would scare me. But John and Carlile work so well together, both their voices and their chemistry as people. Carlile possesses an old soul — it makes sense as to why she gets along well with John.
The second single, “Never Too Late,” opens with John singing, “It’s never too late.” I interpret this as a nod to the album itself. Few artists his age are still making music. John toured until 2023, and, though he called it his retirement tour, he’s not slowing down. As he sings, he really is saying, “Fuck off, Heaven’s Gate!”
“You Without Me” is a song Carlile wrote about her 10-year-old daughter. She sings about how her daughter is learning to express herself and how it feels like it is creating distance between them. The lyrics hit hard, especially as a daughter. Learning to become your version of yourself, but it being different than what your mother envisions.
The title track, “Who Believes in Angels,” is a love letter to John and Carlile’s friendship. When talking about this song, Carlile shares that John is nothing like she expected when she was a little girl with his posters on her wall. Hearing this hits home, as for the past six years, there have consistently been photos of Elton John adorning my own walls. Something about Carlile starting off as a huge fan of John as a child and becoming friends with him in her adult years is heartwarming.
“The River Man” starts off with a classic Carlile sound — a melodic guitar riff and soft harmonies. It gradually builds into a gospel-esque song that fits right in with the rest of the album. The opening riff reminded me of Neil Young, and that’s something I love about the whole album. It has such distinct hints of ‘70s music flair while also still incorporating modernity.
“A Little Light” has a slight Americana sound, similar to John’s 1971 album, “Tumbleweed Connection.” Hearing the backstory to this song completely changed the feelings I had towards it. Originally, I thought it was the album’s weakest and didn’t catch my attention. Upon reading interviews, John said this song was created right after Israel’s invasion of Gaza. He was unsure why he was making an album when so much bad was happening in the world. This song is a positive response to the bad.
“Someone to Belong To,” written by Carlile, is sung from John’s perspective to his husband, David Furnish. The couple has been together since the early ‘90s and have two sons. John is someone who has notably been deemed a “diva,” boasting a high strung temperament. Carlile noted that when in the studio with John, when Furnish would arrive, it completely changed John’s attitude and all his tension would go away. Knowing this song is written as a love song between a gay couple means a lot. Hearing a meaningful, heartfelt song about a gay relationship is not something easy to come by, and the fact it is written and sung by some of the world’s greatest artists makes it all the more impactful.
John is no stranger to making depressing songs. From “Sixty Years On” in 1970 to “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” in 1975 to “Too Low For Zero” in 1983. John has done it again with the gut-punching “When This Old World Is Done With Me.” It made me think of a world without Elton John — a world I haven’t lived in and don’t want to think about. The impact this music has held on my life is larger than any feathery-sequined headpiece John has ever adorned.
A revolutionary in the music industry. A fighter for the LGBTQ+ community. An advocate for those impacted by HIV/AIDS. Elton John has lived a life filled with pain, happiness; every emotion under the sun. This album encapsulates all those feelings and puts them into the universal language of music. Creating an album with someone many would think to be an unlikely match is exactly a thing John would do. So, to revert back to the question, who believes in angels? I believe one to have created this album.
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