Elton John has shared a new documentary on the creation of his collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions.
Inside The Lockdown Sessions, streaming exclusively on Apple Music, features Miley Cyrus, Rina Sawayama, Stevie Nicks, Eddie Vedder and more, and documents the album John made over lockdown over three parts. You can check it out here.
“Surprise! Just in time for the holidays, I’m taking you ‘Inside the Lockdown Sessions’,” John wrote on Twitter to announce the new film. “Watch as I go deep into the making of my latest album with all of my collaborators.”
Reviewing The Lockdown Sessions, which came out in October and features collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj and more, NME wrote: “All in all, ‘The Lockdown Sessions’’ all-bets-off stylistic game of spin-the-bottle feels attuned to 2021’s post-genre Spotify world, as Elton continues to further his musical universe. The Rocketman remains in orbit.”
Speaking to NME about the process of creating the album in a recent Big Read interview, John said: “It was never an album I was gonna make,” adding: “I thought, ‘I’m becoming a session musician again like I was 54 years ago, and it feels good.’ I had no restrictions, and I actually loved playing on other people’s records. It was different sorts of music, and music and artists that I loved, so I was in my element. It was like Back To The Future.
“You have to go in there with no ego when you’re playing on someone else’s record and just give them exactly what they want. But also enjoy the process too.”
This week (December 3), Elton John will release his upcoming Christmas duet with Ed Sheeran, titled “Merry Christmas”. All UK proceeds from the track from this year’s Christmas period will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation.
Sheeran and John are one of the leading contenders for this year’s Official Christmas Number 1 – others include Adele, ABBA and George Ezra. The 2021 Official Christmas Number 1 race kicks off at 12.01am on December 17, until 11.59pm December 23. Top 100 Official Christmas Singles Chart and Albums Chart will be published on OfficialCharts.com from 5.45pm.
