Who Believes in Angels? is a lovingly wrought record full of deep personal meaning
Elton John retired from touring in 2023, and last year, he experienced a serious health scare involving his vision. But for an artist with his work ethic and drive, slowing down was never really an option. In fact, his latest collaborative album, with country maverick Brandi Carlile, is a heartwarming burst of rejuvenation and reflection. Elton has always been one of music’s most avid team players — his last album was the all-star Lockdown Sessions (which included a tune with Carlile), his most recent mega-hit was a remix with Dua Lipa, and his best album of this century is arguably 2010’s The Union, a gracious set with Leon Russell.
Here, the vibe is similarly sweet. Brandi has already played a loving role in Elton’s valedictory run. John invited Carlile to join him on “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” during his final U.S. farewell tour stop at Dodger Stadium in 2022, and she was among the many stars who turned out for the Gershwin Prize concert honoring John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. where she performed “Madman Across the Water.” For their new album together, Carlile shared lyric-writing duties with Taupin. Producer Andrew Watt, and backing musicians like Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pino Palladino of Nine Inch Nails, and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer helped flesh out a sound that hearkens to classic Elton without feeling like nostalgic throwbacks.
They happily evoke the classic albums of his mid-1970s golden age, adding a reflective element that makes familiar gestures feel uniquely meaningful. Ballads like “Never Too Late” and “Who Believes in Angels” are sweeping statements about getting the most out of life in the face of mortality. Two songs use different settings to look back at musical heroes: Album-opening “The Rose of Laura Nyro” is a “Candle in the Wind”-size tribute to an Elton contemporary whose genre-eliding rootsiness is a clear influence on Carlile; that’s followed by “Little Richard’s Bible,” a glam-soul stomp driven by Elton’s killer boogie-woogie piano. The best duet performance is the album’s most youthfully upbeat, the rhinestone-rock splurge “Swing for the Fences.” Meanwhile, Carlile’s acoustic “You Without Me” might bring to mind the indie folk of Elliott Smith or boygenius.
They close it out with Elton’s solo ballad “When This Old World Is Done With Me,” looking honestly at the last stage of his incredible life: “When this old world is done with me,” he sings, “just know I came this far to be broken up in pieces, scatter me among the stars.” But this lovingly wrought record shows how much he has left to give us in the here and now.
