Olivia Newton-John with daughter Chloe Lattanzi (photo: Michelle Day)In this podcast episode, I’m speaking with four-time Grammy Award-winner Olivia Newton-John and her daughter, singer/songwriter Chloe Lattanzi who recently released their new duet, “Window in the Wall.”
Produced by six-time Grammy Award-winner Dave Cobb, “Window in the Wall” is not the first time this mother/daughter team has hit the recording studio. Their debut single, “You Have to Believe,” a remake of Newton-John’s #1 single “Magic” from Xanadu, with additional lyrics by Lattanzi, was released in 2015 and reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart.
“I’ve always loved recording duets and singing harmonies,” says Olivia. “I had no plans to record at the time, but I knew from the second i heard the song I wanted to record it with Chloe.”
Those instincts paid off as the song’s stirring and serene music video, released near the end of January, quickly hit number one on the iTunes Music Video chart and stayed there for over a week.
“Window in the Wall” promo coverAmid today’s current turbulence and chaos, both Olivia and Chloe say they really felt connected with the song and its message of hope, love and understanding.
Asked if she had any nerves about going back in the studio after a while, Olivia shares:
“I hadn’t thought about recording again. The last thing I recorded was with Barry Gibb on his Greenfields album, that was lovely. And I thought, you know, I’ve kind of covered it. But the song, this song, coerced me into singing it – there was no way I couldn’t sing it. So I started doing my warm-up with [vocal coach] Steve Real, just to see if it was still there. So, to be honest, I was a little nervous because I hadn’t sung in the studio in a long time. ‘What if I don’t hit the notes, what if it’s not there?’ Yeah, it took a minute (laughing).”
On the musical arc, build, and storytelling of ‘Window in the Wall:’
“That’s always been important to me. That’s been the history for me, particularly songs from ‘yesteryear’ (laughing). They were more of a story-building, you start with less and then build-up. A lot of the records now they’re kind of throwing the kitchen sink early because they want to grab attention. But this is more of that, as you said, story-line that needed to build. We worked on the bridge for a while to get that build. It was a really fun experience to do it.”
Hit the play button below to hear more of my chat with Olivia Newton-John and Chloe Lattanzi.
Link to Olivia’s memoir “Don’t Stop Believin” on Amazon.
Link to my interview with Olivia about her memoir “Don’t Stop Believin'”