Elton John & Brandi Carlile Team For New Album ‘Who Believes In Angels?’
Elton John and Brandi Carlile have joined forces on a collaborative new album project Who Believes In Angels?, set for release on April 4 via Interscope Records. The title track from the album is out today (Feb. 6).
The concept for Who Believes In Angels? was created by close friends and regular collaborators John, Carlile and producer and songwriter Andrew Watt. The album mixes Elton-led songs and Carlile-led songs, with Bernie Taupin and Carlile both penning songs with Watt as producer, mediator and creative conduit. They wrote and recorded the album completely from scratch in just 20 days, backed by a band of musicians that included Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Pino Palladino (Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan and David Gilmour) and Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, Beck).
Ballads co-exist with raw rock and roll, and pop tracks and country-hued Americana rub shoulders with synth-heavy psychedelia on the unexpected album, which also features the 2025 Oscar-nominated song “Never Too Late,” created especially for the Disney+ documentary of the same name and unveiled last year to critical acclaim.
“This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,” John says. “It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels like going into another era and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future. I have everything I’ve done behind me and it’s been brilliant, amazing. But this is the new start for me. As far as I’m concerned, this is the start of my career Mark 2.”
“I’m still reeling from the fact that I got to do it,” Carlile adds. “I think all ships rise with Elton John’s standards for songwriting, and it was an incredibly challenging and inspiring environment to work in, everybody throwing in ideas, everybody listening to everybody else’s ideas. It felt like a family. The world is a wild place to live in right now. It’s hard to find peace and triumph. It’s a radical act to seek out joyful and euphoric happenings. And that is what this album represents to me.”
A short film about the making of Who Believes In Angels? can be viewed here. The film marks the first time John has allowed cameras to film his writing and recording sessions. Cameras positioned around the studio captured thousands of hours of raw footage, and documented the entire creative process – breakdowns, breakthroughs, tears, torn-up lyric sheets and all. The candid footage offers fans an unprecedented, searingly honest insight into the emotionally turbulent creative process for Elton, Brandi and the rest of the team.
Fans can pre-order Who Believes In Angels? to gain exclusive access for the chance to buy tickets to “An Evening With Elton John & Brandi Carlile’”at The London Palladium on March 26. This one-night-only event will feature John and Carlile gracing the stage of one of London’s most iconic venues for a unique evening of performance and storytelling.
Who Believes In Angels? Track List:
1. “The Rose Of Laura Nyro”
2. “Little Richard’s Bible”
3. “Swing For The Fences”
4. “Never Too Late”
5. “You Without Me”
6. “Who Believes In Angels?”
7. “The River Man”
8. “A Little Light”
9. “Someone To Belong To”
10. “When This Old World Is Done With Me”
