Powerhouse artists Elton John and Brandi Carlile have delivered another enthralling preview of their upcoming collaborative album, Who Believes In Angels? The pair’s new single, “Swing for the Fences,” delivers a hopeful, timely message, reminding us to be bold and authentically ourselves without apologies.
“Go on and swing for the fences / Oh yeah, take a shot at the moon,” John and Carlile joyfully proclaim. “A dandelion that dances takes chances and fancies every little light in the room.”
“Swing for the Fences’ was a little gem I took into the studio with me,” Carlile shares of the song in a statement. “I’m a gay woman, Elton’s a gay man and we both have families, and our dreams have come true. I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to write an anthem for young gay kids out there that calls them into a bigger, more elegant, more fabulous life? Just like, ‘Go, go! Don’t let anything hold you back!’.”
“When we recorded ‘Swing for the Fences,’ it was the moment that crystallized where the album was going,” John adds. “It was hard to get to that point, but we knew we had to rise to the occasion and we all just felt this massive sense of joy and euphoria. After our initial difficulties, all the uncertainties started to dissipate when this song came together. It just sounded great.”
Set for release on April 4 via Interscope Records, Who Believes In Angels? is the result of a 20-day-long music-making challenge spearheaded by award-winning songwriter and producer Andrew Watt. John and Carlile worked alongside Watt and John’s longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin to craft the joint album, which pushed the two accomplished artists and longtime friends to new creative heights.
Listen to “Swing for the Fences” below:
Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Who Believes In Angels? Track List:
- “The Rose of Laura Nyro”
- “Little Richard’s Bible”
- “Swing for the Fences”
- “Never Too Late”
- “You Without Me”
- “Who Believes In Angels?”
- “The River Man”
- “A Little Light”
- “Someone To Belong To”
- “When This Old World Is Done With Me”