Elton John hated idea of releasing another solo album: “I would have killed myself”

nme.com:

Elton John has explained that he hated the idea of releasing another solo album, saying he “would have killed himself” if he’d done so.The legendary musician released a new collaborative record with Brandi Carlile today (April 4), titled ‘Who Believes In Angels?’.

It contains the recent single ‘Swing For The Fences’, the previously shared titled track and last year’s ‘Never Too Late’.During a new interview with The Sun, John opened up about why he decided to team up with Carlile on the project, and said he couldn’t have done it alone.“I knew that I didn’t want to make the same album again… I wanted the album to move forward because I’m always trying to look forward,” he told the newspaper (via Music-News).“If I had just made another Elton John record, I would’ve killed myself.”Speaking about what Carlile had brought to the table, John continued: “I needed her, I needed her talent, her energy, her humour and her brilliant lyrics.

I’ve got two of the greatest lyric writers in the world: Bernie Taupin and Brandi Carlile.“The lyrics in front of me, if you can’t write great songs for those then, that’s my great talent, to be able to interpret those beautiful lyrics quickly.”John added: “When we got going, it was like, ‘Whoosh’, like an express train.”In a separate conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, John hinted that there could be further joint music from the pair in the future: “I think working with her would be a privilege to do again […] But she needs to go off and do what she’s learned on this record and put it into her solo stuff.“And then, when we do another album or if we do another, it’ll be even better.