Apart from being a highly feted, knighted musician, Sir Elton John is also widely renowned for being the thrower of some of the most decadent parties in town. The who’s who of the world of showbiz are invited to evenings of grandeur, with John playing the indulgent, engaging host to an eclectic mix of the best in business.
The Lockdown Sessions, John’s 32nd studio album, sounds a bit like that — a magnificent roll call of genre frontrunners that is seemingly disparate, ludicrous even. As the name suggests, the album found germination in the lockdown that force-stopped his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, leaving John — like all of us — in a spiral of confusion and disorientation.
In a statement about the album, the legendary British singer-songwriter says, “Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I'd obviously never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist but separated by glass screens. But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory. And I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. 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 fun that John has had is very evident in the manner in which he has allowed himself to truly step out of his oeuvre, and embrace sounds and techniques that we absolutely do not associate with him.
When was the last time the man who soulfully captured a lover’s angst in the '90s with his famous 'Sacrifice,' allowed himself to be auto-tuned to the point that he almost sounds robotic?
There are issues with it, but more on that later.
The point is John has allowed himself to not be typecast, keeping a finger on the pulse of today, and collaborating with young artists who themselves are blurring the lines of genre identities. Those who have listened to him on his show Rocket Hour will be fully aware that John has always been a champion of young talent, never hesitating to write or co-create music with artists who have almost nothing to do with his own sonic aesthetics. Unlike what Coldplay critics would define as a desperate need for contemporary approval, John has a consistent and significant body of work that highlights his courageous experimentation with younger musicians. Frankly, Elton John has so much money, he can merrily live off his royalties without craving either the validation or the bucks of poorly thought-out collaborations.
Of the 16 songs in the album that was released on 22 October, nine of them had previously been released either as singles from the album or in the albums of the collaborating artists. Among these are three singles that were released ahead of the album launch: 'Cold Heart' with Dua Lipa, 'After All' with Charlie Puth, and 'Finish Line' with Stevie Wonder.
The first single 'Cold Heart' (Australian trio Pnau remix) with Lipa blends iconic portions of 'Sacrifice' with his 1972 hit 'Rocket Man' to create a number that puritans will grudgingly admit is addictive at best, sacrilegious at worst. Last year, Texan soul-pop-rock group Surfaces released 'Learn to Fly,' a lithe dance pop track that can see you navigate a dance floor with drinks in hand. John’s reworking of Japanese-British singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama’s 'Chosen Family' is a powerful show of support for the LGBTQ+ community, many of whom have been forced by the pandemic to once again hide their identities while being closeted at home for the duration of the lockdown.
There is also Gorillaz’s 'The Pink Phantom,' which deftly combines melancholy with 6lack’s auto-tune, but also finds Elton John surprisingly standing firm in this unlikely mix. John’s country meets waltz duet with Brandi Carlile is a decent listen but does not stay with you much longer. Disappointingly, so does Stevie Nicks’ vocals in 'Stolen Car' with John. Given that the album boasts some powerhouse vocals (read: Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, and Eddie Vedder) that have captured our hearts before the advent of auto-tune, it is nothing short of a letdown to have Nicks sound the way she does. Even his collaboration with Eddie Vedder, 'E-Ticket,' is not as much about the Pearl Jam frontman as it is about the musician-knight. That, however, has not got anything to do with John’s arrangement of the song, and everything to do instead with Vedder’s inability to stand out against the wholesome timbre of John’s vocals.
Why then would the British legend be okay with so much processing of his vocals in some of the songs is a mystery to me, because if we make synthetic his vocals in songs that do not have his piano mastery, what do we have left? In 'Finish Line,' John’s song with Wonder, we get a musical repartee of equals — two pristine voices that have very commanding auras.
John’s observation that The Lockdown Sessions finds him more as a session’s musician than the rock demigod that he is, is shrewd because it removes some of the creative onus off of him while allowing him to push the boundaries of his own music in such stifling times.
The album is far from being among his best, but it projects him as a champion of music and social communities. He is the kid who brought the bat and stumps to the game, and just wants to be allowed to play even if he is only assigned fielding duties, loudly telling anyone willing to listen, "I'm still standing."
You can listen to The Lockdown Sessions here.
Senior journalist Lakshmi Govindrajan Javeri has spent a good part of two decades chronicling the arts, culture and lifestyles.
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