Bernie Taupin releases The Sea Has No Mercy, his first solo album in nearly forty years

Bernie Taupin released The Sea Has No Mercy on October 23 through Vertigo Records and MCA. Its ten songs form his first solo album in nearly forty years and his first entirely self-written album. Elton John’s longstanding songwriting partner turns here to the events and relationships of his own life.

The record was made in Nashville with producer Frank Liddell. The Tennessee Stone Cutters’ core players are guitarist Adam Wright, bassist Glen Worf and keyboardist Michael Rojas. Additional contributors include Lee Ann Womack, the Jeremy Jordan Ensemble and percussionist Jay Bellerose, alongside the album’s featured vocal guests.

Brandi Carlile joins Come On California, while Taupin’s daughter Georgey Devon Taupin sings on closing track One Hundred Ways. Fisherman opens a sequence also including Old Church Road, Elephant Boy and Old Dog. The project connects with his memoir Scattershot and a retrospective documentary in development: it is a new full album, rather than an Elton John song compilation.