Who Believes in Angels (2025)
1. The Rose of Laura Nyro
2. Little Richard's Bible
3. Swing for the Fences
4. Never Too Late
5. You Without Me
6. Who Believes in Angels?
7. The River Man
8. A Little Light
9. Someone to Belong to
10.When This Old World is Done With Me
I must confess that the music snob residing somewhere deep within my soul occasionally wishes Elton John would simply release a straightforward Elton John album and be done with it. The formula worked rather well for several decades. Sit Elton behind a piano, have Bernie Taupin write some lyrics, sprinkle in a few memorable melodies, and watch the magic happen.
Of course, Elton has long since moved beyond such limitations.
Ever since the 1990s, he has seemingly made it his mission to explore every possible musical avenue available to him. There have been movie soundtracks, Broadway musicals, collaborative projects, tribute albums, duet records, concept pieces, and various other excursions that occasionally leave longtime fans scratching their heads. The results have been mixed, but I suppose that is the privilege afforded to artists who have spent fifty years earning the right to do whatever they please.
And frankly, good for him.
Brandi Carlile is an artist whose work I admittedly know only in passing. I am, however, aware that Elton himself has been singing her praises for years. One of the things I have always admired about him is that he remains genuinely curious about new music. Unlike many artists of his generation, he doesn't seem content to simply replay the soundtrack of his youth and complain about the modern world.
Nothing irritates me more than aging music fans who endlessly proclaim that there is no good new music anymore. Nonsense. Every generation produces outstanding artists. The trick is simply making the effort to find them.
Still, Elton's enthusiasm for an artist is no guarantee that his audience will feel the same way. Fans have followed him through enough unusual projects over the years to approach these collaborations with a degree of caution. Fortunately, in this particular case, that caution proves unnecessary.
Who Believes in Angels? is a remarkably successful collaboration.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how much this album sounds like an Elton John record. The styles vary considerably from song to song, but very little feels foreign or out of place within his catalogue. In many respects, it succeeds where his earlier collaboration with Leon Russell, The Union, occasionally struggled. That album was certainly good, but much of it sounded more like a Leon Russell record featuring Elton John than the other way around. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, but some Elton fans understandably found it difficult to embrace. No such problem exists here.
Eight of the album's ten tracks are true duets, and although one could argue that Carlile occasionally occupies center stage more often than Elton, it never feels unbalanced. If anything, it demonstrates a level of confidence and generosity on Elton's part. At this stage of his career, he seems perfectly comfortable sharing the spotlight when the material warrants it.
More importantly, the songs are excellent.
They are warm, melodic, engaging, and blessed with the sort of craftsmanship that has always distinguished Elton's best work. The melodies linger long after the album ends. The arrangements are tasteful. The performances are heartfelt. In short, the album succeeds because it remembers that memorable songs matter more than clever ideas.
Both artists are also given opportunities to stand alone. Carlile's You Without Me is perhaps the least Elton-like piece on the album, but it is also one of the most moving. Sentimental? Absolutely. Effective? Equally so. One would have to possess a rather alarming lack of emotional wiring not to be touched by it.
Elton's solo showcase, When This Old World is Done With Me, is every bit as affecting. The title alone tells listeners exactly where the song intends to go, and thankfully it delivers on that promise. There is an honesty and vulnerability present that only seems to grow stronger as Elton gets older.
In the end, this project works far better than it probably had any right to.
Will longtime fans such as myself continue hoping for one more classic Elton-and-Bernie studio album? Of course we will. Some habits are impossible to break. Yet records like this remind us that great music doesn't always arrive in the package we expect.
Who Believes in Angels? is warm, memorable, surprisingly cohesive, and thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. For a collaboration that could easily have become an interesting curiosity, it instead stands as one of the most satisfying projects Elton John has released in quite some time.
A tip of the top hat to everyone involved.
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