First listen: Elton John’s brand new single ‘Looking Up’

Elton John today announced that he will release his 33rd studio album, Wonderful Crazy Night, worldwide on February 5, 2016 on Virgin EMI Records. The album will feature the lead single Looking Up, which debuted today, alongside other songs co-produced by Elton and T-Bone Burnett and recorded at The Village in Los Angeles.

John and Burnett oversaw 2013’s acclaimed The Diving Board, a top five success in both the UK and US, and the historic 2010 alliance with Elton’s early inspiration Leon Russell, The Union. But there are other collaborations on Wonderful Crazy Night that connect back to the formative days of his towering career.

First and foremost, the new record marks the continuation of Elton’s songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. The ten new co-writes represent the latest fruits of a friendship that now dates back 48 years.

Wonderful Crazy Night signals Elton’s reunion with other trusted allies, too. Drummer Nigel Olsson, with whom he’s been working since his late 1960s breakthrough, and guitarist Davey Johnstone (who first played with him in 1971 and became a full band member the following year) are both on board, for the first time since The Captain & the Kid in 2006. Five tracks feature appearances by another time-honored associate, percussionist Ray Cooper, and they’re joined by bassist Matt Bissonette, keyboard player Kim Bullard and percussionist John Mahon.

The tracklisting in full:

1. Wonderful Crazy Night
2. In The Name Of You
3. Claw Hammer
4. Blue Wonderful
5. I’ve Got 2 Wings
6. A Good Heart
7. Looking Up
8. Guilty Pleasure
9. Tambourine
10. The Open Chord