New Elton Album in 2024

[dougs]

New Elton Album 2024:

There has been talk off & on from both Elton & Bernie that 2024 would likely see a new album.  Pete Townsend of The Who mentioned on January 2nd that Elton & Brandi Carlile have created a new album together.  Apparently the record was recorded in Los Angeles and took only two weeks to do.  No information about whether or not the lyrics were Bernie's or who the band members are.

Brandi Carlile joined Elton onstage at his Dodger Stadium finale on November 20, 2022.  She performed "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with Elton.  She is certainly a talented, respected, & successful musician.  Her IN THESE SILENT DAYS album released in 2021 has been critically applauded.

Personally, I have not tended to enjoy most of Elton's collaborations.  Elton's 1993 DUETS record is an album I rarely play.  Same can be said for LOCKDOWN SESSIONS.  I am also not a fan of Elton's country leanings despite the quality of the songs.  PEACHTREE ROAD (2004) with its country & southern US influences is another record I very rarely play.  It charted horribly.  But, as  an artist, Elton has the right to choose whatever he wishes to write & record.  All one can ask is that it involve dedication & commitment to the music as he did with PEACHTREE ROAD.  No questioning Elton's integrity with that project.

Pete Townsend seemed to say in the recent interview that Elton was totally at loss at what to do next with his touring coming to an end.  This album with Brandi Carlile seems to be the answer.   We know that Elton is really driven to stay relevant and contemporary as evidenced by his radio show and his dedication to younger artists.  His 2023 Glastonbury concert featured young artists guesting with him onstage.  I'd rather see Elton tap into working with talented guitarists, keyboardists, etc., if need be, to support his & Bernie's songs like Eric Clapton & David Gilmour did - adding memorable guitar parts to two songs on 1992's THE ONE album.

Either way, it looks like Elton's next album is a full collaboration with Brandi Carlile.  It will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry comes from these two.  No release date or even official announcement of a release has been made.

Doug

[dougs]

Update - February 9, 2024:

Nothing new on Elton's potential new album.  So far, all we know is that he put down tracks with Brandi Carlile.  No further updates.

Personally, I am not overly excited about another batch of songs with EJ teaming up with other artists.  As good as LOCKDOWN SESSIONS was (or wasn't, depending on who you ask) it would be nice to see EJ move back to recording as a solo artist with and band of some sort.  Elton can do whatever he chooses but I'd love to see him get a solid funky band together and push himself instrumentally.  He is a real chart hound which may be a bigger driving factor in writing new music - with other artists.  He would benefit from getting a new producer.  I thought that Patrick Leonard did an excellent job on SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST in 2001.  I have not been overly impressed with the production of any EJ album since then.

Doug

[newloneranger]

Feb 9, 2024 6:19:23 GMT dougs said:

Update - February 9, 2024:

Nothing new on Elton's potential new album.  So far, all we know is that he put down tracks with Brandi Carlile.  No further updates.

Personally, I am not overly excited about another batch of songs with EJ teaming up with other artists.  As good as LOCKDOWN SESSIONS was (or wasn't, depending on who you ask) it would be nice to see EJ move back to recording as a solo artist with and band of some sort.  Elton can do whatever he chooses but I'd love to see him get a solid funky band together and push himself instrumentally.  He is a real chart hound which may be a bigger driving factor in writing new music - with other artists.  He would benefit from getting a new producer.  I thought that Patrick Leonard did an excellent job on SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST in 2001.  I have not been overly impressed with the production of any EJ album since then.

Doug

I'm not a big fan of collaborations either but it would probably be better than Lockdown sessions. That was just Elton collaborating with other artists on the other artists albums and he took all these songs and threw them all together and made Lockdown. I just heard he's making a Secret album that should be out before the end of this year. So maybe 2 albums this year. Should be interesting.

[dougs]

newloneranger:

This potential new (2024) "secret" Elton album would be welcomed - hopefully!  Thanks for the heads-up on this.

I know that i would like to see an album of songs where Elton is pushing himself musically / instrumentally.  One of the reasons that I still love BLUE MOVES (1976) is because of all of the instrumentation throughout the album including 3 instrumental songs and tons of superb playing throughout.  I also think that he would benefit from surrounding himself with new (veteran or young) musicians to avoid slipping into familiarity and comfort zones. WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT (2016) with his band did not result in too many inspiring moments but, rather, a pleasant familiar (within the box) and somewhat predictable collection of songs.  Elton needs to tap into a new producer or possibly go back to Patrick Leonard who produced SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST (2001).  Steven Wilson would be an interesting option.

Doug

[newloneranger]

Yes Blue Moves is a great album, I always enjoyed it. If you are on Facebook go to Caleb Quaye's page where he plays Your Starter For on his guitar. I guess he wrote that one. Sounds different with just the guitar but its a pretty good version of it. Patrick Leonard would be a good producer on a new album.....Jim

[rocketman]

I watched the Caleb Quaye segment and replied that I often use Your Starter For as a quick demo song to test the sound of my audio systems or compare speakers if I'm shopping for a pair.

Caleb by the way is very generously contributing to at least two Facebook groups, Elton John and The Eltonites and Elton John And His Fans.

As for the new album(s), a duet/collaboration is not what I want to see. The Lockdown Sessions, which I too seldom listen to outside of a couple songs like Orbit and Chosen Family, was enough for me. I was hoping that Brandi would mostly act a producer and/or a musical contributor rather than singing duets. We'll see.