Nicki Chapman's exclusive chat with Elton John and Brandi Carlile
The pair have announced a duet album
Elton John and Brandi Carlile joined Nicki Chapman on Magic Radio on Wednesday 5th February, the day their brand new duet album 'Who Believes in Angels?' was announced.
Speaking to the pair about their new album, Nicki asked how Elton felt going into the studio. The pair were joined by Elton's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, and producer Andrew Watt for what is the first album of Elton's new 'career'.
Elton admitted that despite having released many albums before, he was "very nervous" going into the studio for this new record. The legendary singer told Nicki why: "Because I had a vision of how I wanted this album to be.
"If I was going to do a record with Brandi, it had to be a proper duet record and not one line here and one line there. It had to be harmonised, it had to be sounding fresh, even though, as I said before, the songs are classical kind of songs in the way they're formed, but I knew what I wanted, but sometimes you can't get that in the studio."
He continued: "But if you have Andrew Watt (producer) behind the desk, you’ll finally get it, and all the problems I had with the album to start with were self doubt, my self doubt."
'A Little Light'
Elton then went on to explain reading a morning newspaper inspired a new song called 'A Little Light'.
"Brandi was so helpful," Elton said. "She would come round to where we are now in the house. And one morning I was sitting here with the newspapers and it was saying it's so awful, the world's in such a bad place, I’m so miserable and she took that and she wrote ‘A Little Light’.
"She took my, you know, my bad, grumpy, irritable feelings about what the world was like and turned it into a really positive, wonderful song. We did it that day! It was incredible."
Brandi added: "It's almost our conversation that morning verbatim. Like it's what he said, and then my verse is what I wish I had said. But I had to go away and think about it for a little while, you know.
"And then, you know things were really hard, we were in the studio in early October and there was a lot happening internally for us. There was a lot happening out in the world and it was really hard to find that little beam of light, to connect and make this happen together. And you know, we had to work for it and that you hear it."
When is 'Who Believes in Angels?' released?
The album will be released on 4th April.
Take a look through other albums out in 2025:
Kim Wilde - 'Closer'
Release date: Out now
Pop icon Kim Wilde has released her highly anticipated 15th studio album. The 80s singer famed for 'Kids In America' announced the news alongside the release of her new single 'Trail of Destruction' in August 2024, revealing a January 2025 release.
'Closer' is Kim's first studio album since 2018's 'Here Come The Aliens'. Intended as a companion piece to her fan-favourite 1988 album 'Close', this new offering is made up of a combination of pop, rock and dance.
Manic Street Preachers - 'Critical Thinking'
Release date: Out now
Manic Street Preachers released their 15th studio album 'Critical Thinking' on 14th February. The band told Greatest Hits Radio's Ken Bruce the writing process behind the album, saying it wasn't "really particularly thematic".
Nicky said: "I think with this album it was a much more sort of inspirational record, where wherever we had the moment, we're lucky enough to go our own studio. If we have that moment of inspiration, we just pile in and we create as quickly and as practically as we can. So I don't think it's really particularly thematic, it's just the joy of still being able to create really at our age and you know. (We) still have people who want to us."
Bon Jovi - 'Slippery When Wet'
Release date: Out now
Bon Jovi have re-issued their third studio album 'Slippery When Wet' with a limited-edition water-filled LP. The album was originally released in August 1986 and was a commercial triumph shifting over 30 million copies globally including their massive hits 'You Give Love a Bad Name,' 'Livin' on a Prayer,' and 'Wanted Dead or Alive'.
Oasis - 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' 25th anniversary edition
Release date: Out now
Oasis have now released a special edition of their album 'Standing On The Shoulder of Giants' to celebrate the album's 25th anniversary. The record featured Top 5 songs such as 'Go Let It Out', 'Who Feels Love?' and 'Sunday Morning Call'.
David Bowie - 'Young Americans'
Release date: Out now
David Bowie's ninth studio album 'Young Americans' has been re-issued to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The album includes the songs 'Fame' and the title track 'Young Americans', both Top 20 songs for David.
Tina Turner - 'Private Dancer' (40th anniversary)
Release date: 21st March 2025
Tina Turner's breakthrough album 'Private Dancer' will be released to celebrate the album's 40th anniversary. The album was originally released in 1984 and featured songs 'What's Love Got to Do with It', Let's Stay Together' and the iconic title track. '
'Private Dancer' was nominated for album of the year at the 1985 Grammys, and 'What's Love Got To Do With It' and 'Better Be Good To Me' both won Grammy Awards.
Brandi Carlile and Elton John
Release date: 4th April
Elton John and Brandi Carlile have announced a collaborative album called 'Who Believes In Angels?', the duo have already released the title track from the album. The album features 10 tracks and was written in just 20 days following Elton's final tour in 2023.
The Waterboys - 'Life, Death and Dennis Hopper'
Release date: 4th April
The Waterboys announced details of their 16th studio album called 'Life, Death and Dennis Hopper' in January 2025. The album features 25 tracks and ' epic story of the trailblazing American actor and rebel told through a song cycle depicting not only Hopper's story but the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture.'
Simple Minds - 'Live in The City of Diamonds'
Release date: 25th April
'Live in The City of Diamonds' was recorded at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam in front of 17,000 fans and sees Simple Minds complete their Live In The City triptych that started back in 1987.
Neil Tennant - 'Sleep of Reason'
Release date: 25th April
Neil Tennant will be releasing a collaborative album with compose Mark Springer and Sacconi Quartet called 'Sleep of Reason'. The album is inspired by Goya's print series Los Caprichos.
The Doobie Brothers - 'Walk This Road'
Release date: 6th June
The Doobie Brothers with the new reunited line-up of Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, John McFee and Michael McDonald, announced they would be releasing a 10 track album called 'Walk This Road'. On the day the band announced the album in January 2025 they also released two songs 'Walk This Road' featuring Mavis Staples, and 'Call Me'.
Madonna
Release date: Unknown
Madonna has revealed she will be re-releasing her 1994 album 'Bedtime Stories', which featured 'Secret', 'Take A Bow', 'Bedtime Story' and 'Human Nature'. She has not yet revealed when it will be released, but she said it would be available on vinyl.
When is Nicki Chapman on Magic Radio?
You can listen to Nicki Chapman weekdays 8pm until midnight.
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