Elton John & Brandi Carlile ‘Who Believes In Angels?’ review: Super-duo deliver pop greatness

Nothing good in life comes easy, and that’s certainly the case on this first-ever album team-up from Elton John and Americana star Brandi Carlile.

READ MORE: Elton John and Brandi Carlile – “You have to have hope”

When the close friends decamped to LA’s Sunset Sound Studios to start recording, they found that Elton — straight off the back of his last-ever tour — was “exhausted, irritable and would just storm out of the studio”.

As ever, it was the magic pen of Bernie Taupin that saved proceedings. The jaunty honky tonk of ‘Little Richard’s Bible’ — one of this record’s best songs — convinced the pair that this endeavour was worth pursuing. And thank God they did. It’s a brilliant partnership which sees the pair sharing vocals across 10 electric tracks while upping their game under the steady hand of producer Andrew Watt. 

For Brandi’s part, the beautiful, hushed tones of ‘You Without Me’ are among the highlights as she waxes lyrical on watching her daughter grow up. 

As for Elton, he sounds like an elder statesman and, conversely, someone who is ready to do it all over again. The heartbreaking ‘When This Old World Is Done With Me’ is among the most powerful songs he’s ever done, especially in the context of his health struggles in recent years. But the flip side of this is the twanging, country-esque strains of ‘Someone To Belong To’, where Elton sounds the most energised he has in years.  

It’s all a reflection of what Elton describes as “the start of my career, Mark 2”. Only time will tell if that’s the case, but this meeting of minds ranks among the greatest things that both have ever done.