This latest short however is pure sugary delight.
Known for his bizarrely brilliant characters and worlds, this project also shows another tone to the director’s work, whose previous films for Adult Swim and band Squid are more sinister and unnerving. There is also a trippy countryside scene where flowers with juicy lips bop and the clouds are shaped like unicorns and castles. Then animated versions of Dua and Elton, hand-drawn by Seo Young, invite the characters to explore more of Djafari’s vivid landscapes: an interplanetary one where each gets their own planet to dance atop. Created over lockdown, Djafari and his team wanted to encapsulate “a post-lockdown feeling to get back to a place where we can once again enjoy and feel music together in a fresh 2021-kind-of-way”.
According to producers Blinkink, the video aimed to create a galaxy “full of celebration, dance and joy”. One dancer draws a shooting star in the sky, while flying fish seem to effervesce from the souls of their shimmying shoes while giant flowers with eyes grow and surround them with nature. As the characters strut their stuff, 2D hand-drawn elements adorn the frames, adding an ethereal energy. The video sees a gang of four claymation-like 3D characters dressed to the nines in disco gear – platforms, flares, waistcoats and Elton-esque flamboyant glasses to boot – arrive via escalators through a portal in space, to a camp, glittering party. For what is poised to be the biggest pop star collaboration this year, Djafari has directed the video for Dua Lipa and Elton John’s Cold Heart (PNAU remix), bringing his signature surrealism and mixed media techniques in bounds. Long may he run.Raman Djafari has a firmly established following for his wildly imaginative music videos and films, but this latest commission sees the animator leap to the big leagues. “I'm still here/And yet I'm gone,” Campbell sings while John somehow transcends the ultimate finish line.
#COLD HEART ELTON JOHN ORIGINAL PRO#
John rights himself on the driving tune “Stolen Car” with Stevie Nicks, duets beautifully with rising star Rina Sawayama on track “Chosen Family” and the album ends on a poignant note with “I’m Not Gonna Miss You," his Pro Tools collaboration with the late Glen Campbell, who died in 2017. And “Beauty In the Bones,” a duet with country singer Jimmie Allen, is flat since the song is weak tea.
John gets glam rocky and spacy on the Gorillaz's “The Pink Phantom” with 6lack, and soars perfectly with Charlie Puth in “After All,” but he stumbles in a pairing with Young Thug and Nicki Minaj on “Always Love You,” his piano and vocals ill-fitting this particular vehicle. John then has a twang with Brandi Carlile on “Simple Things” - repeating a line about the finish line - and a foot-stomping, ‘70s rock groove with Eddie Vedder on “E-Ticket.” But John is a subdued presence on both Lil Nas X’s cut “One of Me” and a cover of Metallica's “Nothing Else Matters” with Miley Cyrus, who, turns out, slays at metal singing. It's addictive stuff, and the bad part is the song has to end at some point. The album kicks off with the slinky “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” - melding John's songs “Kiss the Bride,” “Rocket Man,” “Where’s the Shoorah?” and “Sacrifice” - into a dance bop featuring vocals by Dua Lipa. Not all of it works, but most of it does, and credit John for the supreme musicianship to bend to his guests' strengths in music's every genre. It's also a highlight of John’s 16-track album “The Lockdown Sessions,” which sees the Rocket Man outsmart the pandemic by working with an eclectic mix of artists, from Stevie Nicks to Lil Nas X. But the wait is over: The legends join on the new gospel-flavored song “Finish Line,” enlivened by Wonder’s trademark harmonica and John’s piano work. It's been more than 35 years since Elton John recorded with Stevie Wonder and that's clearly way, way too long. “The Lockdown Sessions,” Elton John (Interscope Records)
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