Cold Heart (PNAU remix)

Cold Heart's harmony is deliberately streamlined — PNAU collapsed the richer harmonic language of Elton John's original four songs into a single four-chord minor loop that serves the dance-pop production. The genius lies not in harmonic complexity but in how melodies originally written over different progressions are recontextualized to work over one unified cycle. The avoidance of a dominant V chord gives the track its perpetual-motion feel, never fully resolving and keeping dancers locked in the groove.

Cold Heart originated during the COVID-19 pandemic when Elton John was forced to halt his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in March 2020. Seeking creative outlet during lockdown, John embarked on a series of remote collaborations for what would become The Lockdown Sessions. Australian dance trio PNAU — longtime collaborators who had previously remixed John's work on their 2012 album Good Morning to the Night — were enlisted to craft a medley weaving together melodies from four classic John/Taupin compositions: 'Rocket Man' (1972), 'Where's the Shoorah?' (1976), 'Kiss the Bride' (1983), and 'Sacrifice' (1989). Dua Lipa, whose friendship with John was established in November 2020, provided vocals that bridged the generational gap between the original material and contemporary pop.

Released in 2021 as the lead single from Elton John's collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, 'Cold Heart' is a PNAU-produced remix that brilliantly weaves together melodies from 'Rocket Man,' 'Kiss the Bride,' 'Sacrifice,' and 'Where's the Shoorah?' into a contemporary dance anthem. Featuring Dua Lipa, it became a global number-one hit in over a dozen countries and marked a triumphant cross-generational collaboration born during the COVID-19 pandemic.