FEATURE:
Revisiting…
Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue
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THIS is relevant to a feature…
PHOTO CREDIT: Madison Phipps
that I wrote recently. Stating how BBC Radio 1 have stopped playing certain female artists over the age of thirty. One of them is Ellie Goulding. A hugely popular and relevant artist, her solo material does not feature on the playlists at BBC Radio 1. As she has a new album, Higher Than Heaven, coming out on 7th April, you’d think her music would be in demand at the station. It is a horrible policy that seems to apply to female artists only! I wanted to highlight her previous studio album, Brightest Blue, for this Revisiting… A great album that arrived on 17th July, 2020, this was released during the pandemic. A hard time to promote an album, it was a treat for fans. Full of really great songs, Brightest Blue reached number one in the U.K. and twenty-nine in America. A commercially successful album, there were some mixed reviews among the positive ones. I wanted to highlight the positive reviews, but I will start off with some interviews. Originally scheduled for 5th June, 2020, Brightest Blue’s release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Entertainment Weekly featured an interview with Goulding to promote one of the best albums of her career so far:
“In 2019, while visiting a New York City museum, Ellie Goulding stumbled into a room immersed in blue light and landed on the title for her new project — quite literally out of the blue. "I was transfixed," the English singer, 33, tells EW. "The exhibition had this feeling of bittersweet melancholy, where you've accepted sadness and are ready to illuminate it in a helpful way."
Side 1 of Brightest Blue — the singer's first album since 2015's Delirium— mirrors that sensibility, with songs like "Power" and "How Deep Is Too Deep" tackling self-discovery and romantic disillusionment. The record's opening track, aptly titled "Start" and featuring singer serpentwithfeet, delves further into the experience of post-breakup life. The collaboration came after Goulding first heard serpentwithfeet's "otherworldly, beautifully moving voice" on a Björk collaboration, which, she says, "sent shivers down [her] spine." She promptly asked the Baltimore-born artist to perform at her wedding. "She kept making sure I was taken care of on her wedding day," he says, laughing. "We smoothly transitioned from there to working on music together." When Goulding invited him onto "Start," she already had the foundation in place. For his verse, serpent wanted to add "something bold." "Her lyrics spelled out, 'I'm not this feeble person. I have a lot of will and might,' and I wanted to respond to that," he says.
"I think it's just been a journey of figuring out who I am really," says Goulding of the A side's overall theme. "I spent the last however many years touring and I think I put my discovery on hold. I discovered more about myself as a performer, but not necessarily as a person. I've realized how much I've changed over the years, physically and mentally. I tried to unravel that. There's a couple of songs where I'm still talking about finding that perfect person and being disillusioned by love — that's still my favorite kind of writing. I love writing about heartbreak; any kind of injustice that happens in love and between two people is always interesting to me. All these songs were part of this discovery of myself, learning to love myself a bit more, respect myself and not need anyone else. I think that was really important to me."
The record's flip side, dubbed "EG.0," introduces Goulding's rebellious and fearless alter ego. "I get to play this super confident girl who leaves parties because she doesn't like anyone, and deals with egotistical guys who think they're the one," she says. "It's just fun. It's a very different side of me, but one that I wanted to include because it shows that that's still a big part of who I am." Regardless of the album side or character in play, Goulding has one goal for Brightest Blue. "I want my music to be hopeful," she says. "I want to help people through my music. It's incredible knowing that you could be that needed support for someone." Perfect timing, Ellie”.
I love Brightest Blue. It is an album that existing fans and new converts can appreciate. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Goulding discussed the writing process and some of the collaborators she worked with on her fourth studio album (and her first since 2015’s excellent Delirium). I would urge anyone who has not heard the album to give it a listen, as there is some of Ellie Goulding’s best material on it:
“Ellie Goulding doesn’t mind not knowing exactly who she is yet. She’s still learning, and she’s okay with that. “I think I will never know, and I think that’s just how I am,” she says with a shrug, sipping on champagne in front of a crowd of fans at a Grammy Museum event held in Los Angeles.
It’s been over a decade since Goulding became a household name in the U.S. with her massive single “Lights.” In the years since, the British songwriter has released four albums and been streamed billions of times, thanks to hits like “Love Me Like You Do.” Now, she’s about to drop her fifth album Higher Than Heaven on April 7.
At 36, she’s lived a million lives and has sung about them. She’s proud of the work that she’s done and isn’t afraid to look back at her lengthy career’s highs, like playing right before LCD Soundsystem at Coachella in 2016, and the lows (she remembers feeling like she was going into “survival mode” when she’d visit male-dominated studios as a young artist.) But with her new album, Goulding decided to skip the introspection and instead make music that made her want to dance. After months in the studio, she made her freest album yet.
“In the best possible way, this album wasn’t taken from personal experiences. And it was such a relief to not sit in the studio going through all the things that happened to me and affected me. Because I feel things very deeply,” she says. “I got to just explore other things about myself… Right now, I just want to dance. I just want to sing, I just want to smile.”
This album process was a lot different from the last one. You mentioned before that you still didn’t know who you were with Brightest Blue. Have you finally found who Ellie Goulding truly is?
No, and I think I will never know, and I think that’s just how I am. We’re always striving to figure out who we are and figure things out through writing and through music… So no, I don’t think I do. But I’m happy in that place. I’m happy being in a place of curiosity and exploration.
I’m always searching for that. I definitely know myself a lot better now than the person I was when I was 20 years old signing a record deal and a publishing deal, suddenly thrust onto television in the UK, normalizing it. I’m meant to be doing this. But actually, my brain saying, “No you’re not. This is just mental. You can’t just go from university to suddenly just being on television, walking out my house being photographed. That’s not normal.” I didn’t ever really have a chance to process that. So the lead-up to Brightest Blue, I wandered around New York by myself for hours just thinking about everything that happened to me.
At least in that way, I feel like I’ve gotten to know myself a bit better. Maybe at some point I’ll know, but right now I don’t know what’s going on and I’m happy with that.
Finding yourself is a lifelong process. This new album just shows a very joyous and fun you though, which is very exciting.
There’s certainly something about becoming a mom that does make you explore yourself as a woman, even sexuality and all those things. I do feel like before I had Arthur — this sounds really strange, but I didn’t feel necessarily womanly. I just felt like a human that was going on stage and performing and I didn’t necessarily feel feminine or masculine. And then when you have a kid, there was something that just gets injected into you that suddenly you’re just this kind of power.
You just take this to another level of being a woman, realizing that you’ve just done this insane thing and then given birth to another human. That’s wild. Before that, I didn’t necessarily feel that kind of pull. And then on this album, I feel like there was a new kind of confidence there, in being a woman and sensuality.
Let’s talk about the songwriting process for this new album. Who were some of those main collaborators on this new album and why did you choose them for this record?
It was kind of by default. From these sessions, we’ve built a really amazing bond by accident. The first time I worked with Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wells, the producer, I just remember being like, “This is not working.” It was very rare for me to go into the studio and feel a weird vibe, but there was something not right and I couldn’t figure it out. But something told me to go back the next day. And then the day after, that’s when Tom Mann came in. We made “Cure for Love” and “Like a Saviour.” So many other songs were written in those sessions and it was just that one person was missing. Sometimes it takes three or four people to create this amazing dynamic to write a song. That was it. They made me feel so comfortable.
You mention being in survival mode early in your career. What would you say to that young Ellie who was just starting off in really trying to make it?
I’d say everything’s going to be fine. I was a worrier. I always have been. It’s where my anxiety comes from. I wish I had maybe someone around me that was just there to make me feel protected. But at the same time, I wrote some of the best songs of my career in those days. And I remember my first album with my friend Finn, who called himself Starsmith back then, we wrote it in his bedroom and it was just so carefree.
There was no agenda, there was no trying to please a record label, trying to make a song that fits into a certain genre. We were just so free. And I’d be playing guitar, we’d be recording all these harmonies. I slightly miss those days. But I’d like to re-find that kind of innocence now where I don’t feel like I’m trying to please anyone or trying to fit into a box. I’ve heard in the studio a few times recently, “Oh, that would be a TikTok trend.” And I’m like, “Okay.” But that stuff should just happen. You shouldn’t think about that, I don’t think, personally”.
I am going to wrap up with a couple of reviews. The Line of Best Fit noted how heartfelt Brightest Blue is. Ellie Goulding married in 2019 and became a mother in 2021. It is no wonder that the first album after these events is more personal and has this heartfelt nature to it. It will be interesting to see how Higher Than Heaven, her upcoming album, differs in terms of its sounds and lyrical themes:
“Releasing, or featuring on, no less than fifteen singles in that time, while still managing to maintain her role as a UN Environment Ambassador amongst other charity work, it’s obviously been a busy five years.
A handful of these more recent singles have made it to Brightest Blue, Goulding’s latest album, and a record of two distinct parts; "Brightest Blue" and "EG.0", the latter of which is formed exclusively by these singles. Five collaborations with the likes of Diplo (“Close to Me”) and blackbear (“Worry About Me”) that offer up a bolder, brasher side of Goulding.
The first half of the record however, showcases a softer, more introspective side, more akin to the tracks on her debut than recent material. It’s arguably here where Brightest Blue is at its most arresting. “Power” for instance, throbs with an understated edge of danger, before blossoming forth into a chorus of pure pop perfection. “Bleach” on the other hand is sparsely arranged at first, though builds and mounts, retaining a sense of warmth thanks to its subtle guitar and washes of synth and strings.
Elsewhere, the likes of “Cyan”, “Wine Drunk” and “Overture” are more like vignettes than established songs. This is something which not only adds to the record’s nuance and idiosyncrasy, but its depth and maturity also. And it is a mature record, one which not only explores every facet of Goulding’s emotions, from her most vulnerable to most resilient, but accepts them as well.
Overall Brightest Blue musically shares much in common with Goulding’s previous work, and as such will do little to win over any naysayers. That said, established fans will be able to both appreciate, and relish in, the nuance and maturity she displays here. Indeed, Goulding has consistently proven she’s at her best when she resists the allure of chart-topping collaborations, in favour of the idiosyncratic pop on which she first made her name. Brightest Blue is no different. While the final handful of tracks certainly have their appeal, especially when taken on their own individual merit, it’s the first part of Brightest Blue that feels the most rounded, most accomplished. In short, it feels like Ellie Goulding at her most honest, and her most heartfelt”.
I want to finish off with a review from AllMusic. Maybe known primarily for Pop songs and a certain sound, Brightest Blue is a deeper and more emotional listen at times. It is a shift in focus and dynamic from an artist always evolving her sound and remaining fresh. I think that Higher Than Heaven will be a very different album compared to that of Brightest Blue:
“Coming off her expertly produced pop extravaganza Delirium, English singer/songwriter Ellie Goulding was exhausted and jaded. After a pair of deeply intimate releases that preceded it, that 2015 set brought her international mainstream success but sacrificed her voice. Five years later, Goulding returned with her fourth album, Brightest Blue, a powerful reclamation of self that recaptures the simplicity of her debut and the vulnerability of Halcyon. A double album of sorts, the primary statement has growth and maturity at its core. Atop production that incorporates lush R&B textures and atmospheric electronics, Goulding unloads half-a-decade of personal catharsis onto these tracks, finding comfort in her own skin on the hypnotic "Ode to Myself," coming to grips with time and her decade as a stealthy hitmaker in the music business on the powerful piano-backed "Woman," and ultimately finding peace on the rousing orchestral closer "Brightest Blue." Meanwhile, on the minimalist dance bop "Tide," she channels the xx and Frou Frou while celebrating the thrills of new love. Her admiration of Imogen Heap continues with the woozy interlude "Wine Drunk," which adopts similar vocal distortion as she opines on a bad relationship ("Bleach" and "How Deep Is Too Deep" further detail that pain and heartbreak). Additional highlights on this ethereal journey include the neon synth-dream pop of "Power" -- which interpolates Dua Lipa's "Be the One" to great effect -- and the show-stopping "Love I'm Given," a rapturous dose of soul that pushes Goulding's vocals to new limits as a gospel choir backs her cries. On a second disc dubbed "EG.0," Goulding -- still aware of her position as a pop star -- cannily provides a batch of radio-friendly fare for fans in need of a quick dose of serotonin, tacking on collaborations with blackbear, Lauv, Diplo, Swae Lee, and Juice WRLD. The separation is smart, providing extra tidbits for anyone in search of "Delirium Ellie" while locking its focus on the impact of the substance found on the more rewarding main album. Brightest Blue's main disc is Goulding's deepest emotional journey yet, a triumph of empowerment and self-discovery”.
A terrific album from 2020 that should be played and heard more, I wanted to follow from my feature about BBC Radio 1 by highlighting an album from an artist who should still be a regular on their playlists. Brightest Blue is proof of her quality and relevance - and that will be cemented and underlined when Higher Than Heaven is released on 7th April. It is another fantastic release from…
ONE of our best artists.