After being forced to pause his farewell tour due to the pandemic, Elton John has recorded a lockdown album of collaborations, recorded partially remotely.

“The Lockdown Sessions”, featuring artists from several generations and genres, including Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder and Dua Lipa, will be released on October 22 by EMI Universal, the label announced on Wednesday.

The pandemic project was spurred by John having to pause his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour in March 2020, and by his Apple Music talk show “Rocket Hour,” through which he got to know many of the artists he would work with.

The tracks were recorded with the artists remote from each other in some cases, together with safety precautions in others.

John said it pushed him into very unfamiliar musical territory, dipping into hip-hop, country and electronic dance music, sometimes in the same song.

“I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this,” he said in a statement announcing the album. 

“At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I’d come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast.”

The opening track with Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix),” was released earlier this month.

AAP

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