SEATTLE — What a month it's been for Brandi Carlile, building up to the buzziest album release of her career. For anyone living under a sequins-encrusted rock, the Maple Valley songsmith teamed up with her longtime hero-pal Elton John for "Who Believes in Angels?," their collaborative new album.

The music stars conducted an all-out media blitz for the album's April 4 release, hitting the network television and celebrity interview circuits, culminating with an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and a CBS concert special.

The two friends and queer icons enlisted some heavyweight help on the joint project — which felt predestined given their close relationship — including John's longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. Superproducer (and bona fide guitar shredder) Andrew Watt, whom Seattleites have gotten to know through his work with Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, produced and co-wrote the album, recruiting his frequent studio mates in drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Josh Klinghoffer (synths, keys and guitar), a former Chili Pepper and current Pearl Jam touring member.

Here's a track-by-track breakdown of "Who Believes in Angels?" — an album almost certain to garner Grammy buzz next season.

1. "The Rose of Laura Nyro"

After a spacey synth opening, this tone-setting rock ballad comes riding in on an arena-ready guitar solo, likely from Watt, before downshifting into a resolute sway with John and Carlile's voices locked in hazy unison. The glammy, star-dusted anthem is a salute to Laura Nyro, the late singer-songwriter who was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and idolized by John.

2. "Little Richard's Bible"

Goodness gracious, you can practically feel the great balls of fire shooting out of John's piano on this '50s-esque piano rocker. (Pardon the Jerry Lee Lewis reference.) The eyebrow-singeing tune is actually an ode to rock 'n' roll forefather Little Richard, keeping with the opening theme of saluting John and Carlile's "queer predecessors," as the latter said in an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe.

3. "Swing for the Fences"

The all-star duo keeps the tempo up with "Swing for the Fences," which Carlile described in that same interview as an "anthem of encouragement to LGBTQ youth." It's a glistening, spirited rocker with train-whistle "woo-woo" backing vocals, giving the track a Rolling Stones feel amid its motoring crescendo.

4. "Never Too Late"

You didn't think John and Carlile would leave off the Oscar-nominated song that set the stage for their full-fledged team-up, did you? The candlelit piano ballad is right in the sweet spot for both artists — a perfectly savory tune that I included in a recent top 10 list of Carlile's best song collaborations.

5. "You Without Me"

This spindly, Carlile-sung acoustic number — written from a parent's perspective — is the biggest outlier on the record. It feels like a heartfelt solo-Carlile gem, polished up by a different lapidary (in this case, Watt) and cast in a different light than it would've been if it were just Carlile and her familial bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth cutting it in her Maple Valley barn-turned-recording studio.

6. "Who Believes in Angels?"

A clear centerpiece and natural choice for the title track, "Who Believes in Angels?" comes on like a black-and-white Dorothy stepping into a Technicolored Oz. It's a sturdy, kaleidoscopic rock ballad that's as lavish as John's '70s-era fashion sense, and embodies his and Carlile's musical connection, with their high-low, yin-and-yang vocals perfectly complementing each other.

7. "The River Man"

This countrified rocker feels a little bit "Tumbleweed Connection," but it was actually based off a guitar riff written by a 16-year-old Watt (always save your work, kids). It's an open-road jammer begging to rip through the speakers of a used Winnebago — windows down, of course.

8. "A Little Light"

A sobering duet written the day Israel invaded Gaza, the heavy yet hopeful "A Little Light" is Carlile and John's attempt at sparking some positivity amid the grim current events. It's a premise that could easily come off as a tone-deaf platitude if not for their weary-hearted delivery.

9. "Someone To Belong To"

The love song. This doe-eyed number began as a Carlile-penned song from John to David Furnish, his husband and longtime partner. The Smith-driven rhythm rolls like a river valley, carrying John and Carlile's beautifully interwoven co-lead vocals. It's certified wedding playlist material.

10. "When This Old World Is Done With Me"

This solo piano ballad, stemming from a Taupin lyric, finds John facing his own mortality and looking back on their career together. John's voice is deep and rich on what's easily the album's emotional capstone, closing with a breathtaking piano outro that John delivered in one take. It's too bad his touring days are purportedly done, because this one would surely bring the house down.

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