Elton John tends to keep his finger on the pulse of contemporary music more than most of his peers, and in a recent interview with Music Week, he spoke about a trend he's been noticing in modern popular music: girls rule, boys drool.
Speaking about what new music makes him excited these days, John sang the praises of Wet Leg, Let's Eat Grandma, HAIM, the Linda Lindas, Nova Twins and more, saying that it's so great to see them "rocking out and making the best music. Apart from Sam Fender, none of the boys are doing it, the girls are. It's a breath of fresh air, because it comes from innocence and pure joy and that, for me, is what music is about."
Good on Sam Fender for making the cut! John also talked up his "Cold Heart" collaborator Dua Lipa, calling her "so professional, so charming and right on the money. It was easy peasy. She's got everything there is to have as a female artist. She's bright, modest and not carried away by her own success. I loved working with her."
Later in the interview, John goes on to hype up Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen while complaining that there are too many legacy artists dominating the charts rather than exciting (and, you know, actually good) young voices.
"It's lovely to see Kate Bush at No.1, but there's not many good records in the Top 20," he said. "And the albums chart is full of things like me, ABBA and Queen. The odd thing comes through, like Sam Fender or Harry Styles, or you get a new artist coming in at No. 3 and then disappearing to 80-something."
He continued, saying, "It's depressing — there are a lot of good albums that deserve to be in the albums chart, like Juanita Euka, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen. What I want to know is why aren't they there? Because of people like me!"
You can read the whole interview here.
Speaking about what new music makes him excited these days, John sang the praises of Wet Leg, Let's Eat Grandma, HAIM, the Linda Lindas, Nova Twins and more, saying that it's so great to see them "rocking out and making the best music. Apart from Sam Fender, none of the boys are doing it, the girls are. It's a breath of fresh air, because it comes from innocence and pure joy and that, for me, is what music is about."
Good on Sam Fender for making the cut! John also talked up his "Cold Heart" collaborator Dua Lipa, calling her "so professional, so charming and right on the money. It was easy peasy. She's got everything there is to have as a female artist. She's bright, modest and not carried away by her own success. I loved working with her."
Later in the interview, John goes on to hype up Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen while complaining that there are too many legacy artists dominating the charts rather than exciting (and, you know, actually good) young voices.
"It's lovely to see Kate Bush at No.1, but there's not many good records in the Top 20," he said. "And the albums chart is full of things like me, ABBA and Queen. The odd thing comes through, like Sam Fender or Harry Styles, or you get a new artist coming in at No. 3 and then disappearing to 80-something."
He continued, saying, "It's depressing — there are a lot of good albums that deserve to be in the albums chart, like Juanita Euka, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen. What I want to know is why aren't they there? Because of people like me!"
You can read the whole interview here.
