Elton John and Brandi Carlile have shared a video for their queer anthem 'Swing For The Fences'

Elton John and Brandi Carlile have released a new music video for their single 'Swing For The Fences', directed by Xavier Dolan and choreographed by Damien Jalet.

The video follows a young man, played by William Darby, dancing alone at home before being joined by Abdalla Amour. The piece was created as a celebration of queer expression through dance and movement.

"When Brandi and Elton reached out with their song, the brief mentioned it was written for 'young queer kids'. I immediately saw this young lonely man dancing to himself," Dolan explains. "It isn't fortuitous that music and dancing have always been central to queer culture; it is an ultimate act of expression, abandonment, selflessness. I'm so grateful they came to me with this incredible opportunity to film a young person claiming his power and pride through music and dance, especially at a time where some people, some very powerful people, are trying to weaken and rescind that power, and tame that pride."

Jalet adds: "Helping Xavier to put together this video with such a beautiful and hopeful message was an offer I couldn't refuse. The goal here was to not dim or tame the feeling of an eruptive and spontaneous dancing joy by over choreographed routines. Departing from William's dynamics and improvisations and by his balletic background, and by Xavier's clear ideas on all the clashing emotional states the character is going through, the creation of this video became a beautiful 'pas de trois' between us."

The track features on John and Carlile's upcoming collaborative album 'Who Believes In Angels?', recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with producer Andrew Watt. The record was created with a band including Chad Smith, Pino Palladino, and Josh Klinghoffer.

"'Swing For The Fences' was a little gem I took into the studio with me: I'm a gay woman, Elton's a gay man and we both have families, and our dreams have come true," Carlile shares. "I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool to write an anthem for young gay kids out there that calls them into a bigger, more elegant, more fabulous life. Just like 'go, go! don't let anything hold you back!'."

John reflects: "When we recorded 'Swing For The Fences', it was the moment that crystallised where the album was going. It was hard to get to that point, but we knew we had to rise to the occasion and we all just felt this massive sense of joy and euphoria. After our initial difficulties, all the uncertainties started to dissipate when this song came together. It just sounded great."