For a man so flamboyant, Elton John has spent the latter part of his career making some astonishingly dull music. Every progressive gesture he has made — holding one of Britain’s first civil partnership ceremonies, establishing his Aids foundation — has been countered by a dreary collusion with Disney or soundtracking the country’s mawkishness with Candle in the Wind. He was even partly responsible for breaking James Blunt, and you can’t get away with that just because you are a designated national treasure.

Happily, The Captain and the Kid reveals Elton John harking back to his 1970s pomp, when his manager suggested recording a sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. The 1975 album detailed the early struggles of the singer and his long-time collaborator, the lyricist Bernie Taupin — but as Sam Goldwyn would say in true showbiz style, they have passed a lot of water since then. These songs bring their story up to date, allowing listeners to eavesdrop as the two luxuriate in nostalgia.

However, The Captain and the Kid never topples off its platform shoes and into self-indulgence: the imposing opener Postcards from Richard Nixon is a sharp sketch of time and place, while Blues Never Fade Away laments those lost to Aids. The lighter- waving Tinderbox vividly encapsulates the effect of fame on creativity (“We’ve gotta climb out of the other one’s pocket/ Or we’re gonna burn out on this beautiful rocket”), And the House Fell Down is remarkably frank (“Three days on a diet of cocaine and wine/ and a little weed just to level me sometime”), while the luminous Wouldn’t Have You Any Other Way (NYC) shows Rufus Wainwright how one should emote at Carnegie Hall.

There is an intimacy that makes you feel as though you are sitting with Taupin and John, sharing memories over pink gins. “Now you’re riding off into the sunset and I’m still spinning like a Catherine wheel”, sings John, words that are the mark of a very special relationship. It is almost enough to make you forgive James Blunt.

(Mercury)

Hear about the album in our exclusive podcast with Elton John and Bernie Taupin. www.timesonline.co.uk/podcasts

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