The British lyricist, who is best known for his songwriting partnership with John dating back to the 1960s, is gearing up to release his fourth solo album, The Sea Has No Mercy, on 23 October. Music-News report.
Without Bernie Taupin‘s lyrics, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, The Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and virtually the entire rest of the Elton John catalog would not exist. That’s why John literally handed him his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame statue when he was inducted in 1994, and personally welcomed him into the institution in 2023.
But throughout much of this time, the lyricist has also maintained a solo career that’s flown so far under the radar that many Elton John fans are unaware that Taupin’s own work even exists. And it hasn’t, in any meaningful way, since he disbanded his group Farm Dogs in 1998. His last solo album was 1987’s Tribe. Over the past couple of decades, he’s focused largely on his family, and his work with John.
The Sea Has No Mercy follows his 1971 debut solo album Taupin, his 1980 sophomore record He Who Rides the Tiger and his most recent solo effort, 1987's Tribe. He also released two albums in the 1990s with his short-lived band, Farm Dogs.
"With age comes wisdom, which is a natural progression," Taupin told Rolling Stone while announcing the album on Tuesday. "I don't regret any of the records I've made in the past. They all had a point at the time they were made. But this is the most satisfying record I've ever made.
"I'm talking about in my own canon, not with the Elton thing, because that's a completely different ballpark... I wanted to be able to express my own feelings on my own level in my own writing. That's what makes it more important than anything else I've ever done."
The 76-year-old explained that he thought he was done making his own music for many years, but working on his 2023 memoir, Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, and Me, and a new track for his upcoming documentary film made him realise he "had all of these songs in my head".
"I found myself just coming up with all of these ideas," he noted. "In the long run, the album became a manifesto of somebody who's 76 years old looking back, reflecting, and just a little bit p**sed off at the world."
Taupin also indicated that fans may not have to wait so long for his next solo album.
"I think if and when I make another record, it won't be so reflective. I think I might go back to storytelling," he added. "In fact, I've already written five or six songs that I've been playing around with and going back and forth with. So I'm really enjoying the process of working in my own head with myself and nobody else."
