Elton John and Brandi Carlile have unveiled a music video for their new single “Who Believes in Angels?” The pair tapped photographer David LaChapelle, John’s frequently collaborator, to direct the clip, which features the musicians performing on a giant pinball machine.
“It’s been a wonderful continuation of this journey with Elton over the last 20+ years — projects, videos, stage productions, photo shoots,” LaChapelle said in a statement. “I love these creative challenges we’ve explored and working on this duet with Brandi was really good fun and hard work, but a joyful experience on set. We created a gigantic pinball machine and made a magical world that reminds us of where we’ve been as kids — that dreams do come true — and creating together with your heroes can be a sublime experience.”
“Who Believes in Angels?” comes off John and Carlile’s forthcoming collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?, out April 4 via Interscope Records. The musicians started working on the project with Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt in October 2023.
“They pushed each other out of their comfort zones to write and record an album completely from scratch in just 20 days,” according to a press release. The result was a mix of songs backed by Chad Smith of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pino Palladino of Nine Inch Nails, and Josh Klinghoffer. It includes “Never Too Late,” the song the pair collaborated on for the Elton John: Never Too Late documentary.
“This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,” John said in a press release. “It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels like going into another era and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future.”
Carlile added, “I’m still reeling from the fact that I got to do it. I think all ships rise with Elton John’s standards for songwriting, and it was an incredibly challenging and inspiring environment to work in, everybody throwing in ideas, everybody listening to everybody else’s ideas. It felt like a family. The world is a wild place to live in right now. It’s hard to find peace and triumph. It’s a radical act to seek out joyful and euphoric happenings. And that is what this album represents to me.”
John and Carlile will host An Evening With Elton John & Brandi Carlile at the London Palladium on March 26. The one-off event is being billed as “a unique evening of performance and storytelling.”
