The idea of legend Elton John working together with the Australian mastermind duo behind ‘Empire of the Sun’, Pnau raised quite a few intrigued eye brows. ”I’ve always wanted to do an electronica album’ Elton John recently said in an interview ‘but I didn’t know how to do it’ . Yet when he heard the Pnau guys while he was touring Australia he was so impressed with them he signed them to his own record label and gave them the rights to do something very special with his collection of hits from the seventies…
…And ‘Good Morning to The Night’ is very special. If you have the idea in your mind about a few Elton John tracks been repackaged into an electronica concept album to set the man himself back into the spotlight, you are extremely wrong. In fact over the last year, Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes from Pnau have been mastering the art of creating mosaics by listening to the full back catalog of seventies hits by Elton, selecting fragments and lyrics, editing them and ending up with 8 brand new tracks. In fact 45 samples of Elton Classics were used for the eight tracks found on ‘Good Morning To The Night’
Opening the album is the summer feel good track ‘Good Morning To the Night’ which is recognized as one of the official London 2012 tracks and kicks off as the ultimate electronica party anthem, profiling Elton John as a great asset for the dance world. The second single ‘Sad’, which features samples of the tracks ‘Nice and Slow’, ‘Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word’, ‘Friends’, ‘Curtains’ and ‘Crazy Water’ takes a more relaxed ‘chillax at the swimming pool’ approach, while ‘Telegraph to The Afterlife’ goes into a full lounge setting.
The guys from Pnau have proven to do the Elton John tracks justice and come up with some brilliant tracks for this brand new album. Take ‘Black Icy Stare’ and ‘Karmatron’ for example which sees a fusion of electronica and orchestra in the typical 7oies setting, the latter especially is one of the highlights of the album. ‘Foreign Fields’ on the other hand is a very dreamy track showcasing a side of Elton John we would have never seen otherwise. Topping it all off, is the instrumental end track ‘Sixty’ which is simply the icing on the cake.
If there is one album to be incredibly excited about, this is the one to beat. Currently the number 1 in the UK, already, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world gets the chance to listen to this special and unique Elton John vs Pnau project. Elton’s legacy in the world of electronica is now a fact and it’s only a matter of time, before the Aussies of Pnau get the attention they deserve.
‘Good Morning To The Night’ by Elton John vs Pnau is out now. Watch the video for ‘Sad’ below
