and sending us the multi-tracks of all the songs. They were digitising things madly in the U.K. We had every record available on a download. “We were delivering demos every month and not having a lot of success. In the space of 8-12 months, a stack of tracks were built. Benett/Getty Images for the Elton John AIDS Foundation) He ears, essential for a producer, become exhausted.ĭua Lipa and Sir Elton John attend the 29th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on April 25, 2021. “It changes your whole perception of reality,” he says. “It was a six-month strange period where I couldn’t close an eye,” Littlemore explains over a Zoom call. He was battling Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, a debilitating illness which can lead to permanent facial paralysis and hearing loss. That was his desire.”įor Nick, the magic wasn’t quite there. Good Morning to the Night was all about placing him in that world, whereas this was very much placed in the pop world. We had carte blanche on the first record… we were trying to effectively place his music in Black history in the way that’s really deeper on the grooves, the jazz side of Elton. “He just came straight out of the gate and offered us to make another record. When Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour paused at the Hunter Valley in January 2020 for a brace of dates, the Littlemore brothers caught up action and met with Elton backstage. Through that he said, ‘I’m coming to Australia,’” Nick Littlemore recounts. “He got in touch, I was sick for a bit and feeling dark, and we started talking. Top 10 single in six different decades.Īnd he’s officially the oldest artist to lead the ARIA Singles Chart, at 74 years, 7 months and 14 days. On its way to the top, ‘Cold Heart,’ credited to Elton John and Dua Lipa, and remixed by Pnau, made Elton the first act in history to score a U.K. and Australia in October, and crushed records as it got there. Top 40, let alone reach the very top.Īlmost a decade after those spells were first cast, Elton and Pnau came together again, the result of which hit No. Albums Chart, giving Elton his first leader in 22 years (his Very Best Of ruled in 1990, the year after he last reigned with a studio release, Sleeping With The Past). Good Morning to the Night, billed as Elton John vs Pnau, logged a week at No. “Where all of us can meet on the dance floor, forget the outside and lose ourselves in the healing waters of music and love eternal.The Australian electronic act of Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes (Littlemore’s brother Sam has since come on board as an official member) came into Elton’s orbit, and, after a listening blitz on the Rocket Man’s catalog, Pnau began the painstaking task of cutting, pasting and completely reworking snippets of gold into a colourful new fabric. “Take them into our world, the psychedelic lazer black lit club. “Setting a stage for the two greatest performers in the world today Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, we knew we had to go in deep,” says PNAU. “It’s so very special, with some of my very favourite Elton John classic songs combined – I loved being part of such a creative and joyous experience.” “It has been an absolute honour and privilege to collaborate on this track with him.

“Elton is such an inspirational artist and also has the naughtiest sense of humour – a perfect combination. While Dua says, “Ever since we first “met” online, we totally clicked. The energy she brought to ‘Cold Heart’ just blew my mind.” “And having the opportunity to spend time with Dua, albeit remotely has been incredible. “But being off the road has meant that I’ve actually had time to get back to my roots as a session player and collaborate with some wonderful artists. “The last 18 months have been hard,” says Elton. Now, we have ‘Cold Heart’ and how bloody good.

Cold heart elton john original