"Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art’ - it means what it means," says Yard Act frontman James Smith. In this case he's talking about the new studio version of their song "100% Endurance" they made with Sir Elton John. The rock superstar has been a vocal fan of Yard Act for a while, talking them up on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music. Says Smith, "Elton John saw our stuff and he started telling the press he thought we were good and then we chatted on the phone and after a few calls I said ‘Elton, do you want to come to the studio and play piano on a tune?’ because, fuck it, it doesn't matter if he says no. Anyway, he said ‘yes’, so it doesn't matter that he didn't say no. I don't know what else to say. He's brilliant. Switched on, hilarious and an amazing musician.”
This new version of "100% Endurance" is pretty different than the original that's on Yard Act's debut album, The Overload, which is one of our favorites of the year so far, with Elton adding piano amongst the sweeping orchestration, and chimes in on the chorus and elsewhere. He even gets off a few bon mots, like "I've had more hits than hot meals."