Back in 2012, just after Elton John had tipped Bright Light Bright Light (aka Rod Thomas) as a new musician to watch, I asked Thomas what receiving praise from a pop icon was like. “It’s just incredible,” he remarked. “Like, when you grow up listening to someone like Elton John, you never, ever expect to have any real contact with them, let alone hear that they like your record. It’s a very bizarre, and very humbling experience.”

The two spoke by phone and Thomas even sailed with Sir Elton, his partner David Furnish, and a coterie of easy-on-the-eyes guys aboard the pair’s private yacht. Now, almost two years later, the music legend and relative upstart have teamed together on a new Bright Light Bright Light track, “I Wish We Were Leaving,” out today.

Thomas was working on the song when he first connected with Elton, and while not originally conceived as a duet, soon thought Elton’s vocals would be a wonderful addition. “I love that his voice taking lead in the second verse is a reminder that every relationship has two sides and two voices,” Bright Light Bright Light tells The Guardian.

The synthpop ballad, with its skittering drum-n-bass beat, presents Elton John in a unique light while Thomas continues to forge a singularly impressive pop path as Bright Light Bright Light.

“I Wish We Were Leaving” serves as the first single from Bright Light Bright Light’s sophomore album, Life Is Easy, out in July. While the standalone single for “I Wish We Were Leaving” is out right now, look for a digital EP on April 7 featuring the following tracklist:

01 “I Wish We Were Leaving” (with Elton John)
02 “Matters”
03 “She Carves Her Desire”
04 “I Wish We Were Leaving” (Severino Remix)
05 “I Wish We Were Leaving” (Two Dudes In Love)
06 “I Wish We Were Leaving” (DJ Nita Remix)

Purchase Bright Light Bright Light and Elton John – “I Wish We Were Leaving” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.