Ellie Goulding

Ellie GouldingNever likely to be one of those singers who is content just to turn up, lay down a main vocal part and leave, Ellies approach to writing and recording is, she admits, borderline obsessive but then, anything less, she says, would be a waste of time.As her debut album, Lights, made so thrillingly clear, Ellie Goulding uses her voice as a texture in much the same way that a skilled instrumentalist would. It is a sound in Ellies case, an utterly distinctive and unforgettable one that can… Show more play as important a role in her songs as any other musical detail.The new record Halcyon describes a journey out of heartache and towards hope. It is almost as if you can hear Ellies psyche shrinking and then renewing, rebooting itself after two-and-a-half tumultuous years in her life: a Brit award, the release of Lights, love, loss, writers block, a new relationship, singing at the White House and at a certain spring wedding, a number one pop record that has done over 3m in America, confronting her doubts and fears, digging deep and locating her artistry again, returning to the countryside she grew up in and, in a converted barn, making a record that confirms her as one of this countrys most singular and compelling songwriters.Two such fans are a young couple who, 17 months ago, were married in London and, for one of the few private moments the world allowed them on the day, approached Ellie and asked her to sing at the party they were holding following the wedding reception. It isnt every day, of course, that a musician will stand on a stage as a pair of giant doors open, and watch pretty much the entire Royal Family advance into the room, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at their head, ready to be entertained.But that is exactly what happened to Ellie and her band at Buckingham Palace in April 2011 when, after months of secret negotiations during which Ellie was sworn to and maintained her silence, she sang a selection of her own songs and cover versions (including tracks by Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and, inevitably, Elton Johns Your Song) for the newly-wed royals, and afterwards mingled with their guests.Ellies success in America her single, Lights, is still an immovable fixture in the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after 35 weeks has been another experience she finds it hard to describe. America has clearly got under her skin. They embrace everything, Ellie says. Theyll take your biggest fault and turn it into something positive. And the work ethic in music over there isnt like anything Ive ever known. You get back to your hotel at one in the morning and someone will contact you and go, Do you want to come over to the studio?. So over you go, and theres Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex there, and will.I.am in the next-door studio. Everyones just hanging out, making music.

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