Yet despite the song’s success, Goulding seemed less like a budding superstar than one of many internet-era singers making “pop” with scare quotes. Goulding emerged out of England in 2010 with “Lights,” an EDM-infused synth track that earned rave reviews upon its release and made a surprise dash up the American charts two years later. I made a conscious decision that I wanted it to be on another level.” This is a ridiculous statement, but not entirely ridiculous considering the source. Ellie Goulding keeps finding new levels to strive for.When Ellie Goulding announced her new album, Delirium, over the summer, the press release included this quote from the British singer: “A part of me views this album as an experiment - to make a big pop album. It’s a talent only the most gifted of artists can reach. It is the sound of someone taking the triumphs and heartbreaks and fears and joys and channeling them into something powerful and mesmerizing. ‘Delirium’ feels like the culmination of all Goulding has experienced. I’m constantly in a state of delirium,” she says. “It can be describing a really happy, crazy state, or it can be the complete opposite. The album title felt to Goulding like it was the word that summed up everything she’d been through to get to this point. ‘Delirium’ is the work of an artist who is seizing her moment, and has never sounded more assertive and in control. The album features 16 tracks, with an additional 6 on the deluxe version. That balance is displayed most devastatingly on Army, a track written about her best friend Hannah. Songs such as ‘Devotion’, ‘On My Mind’, ‘Don’t Panic’ and ‘Don’t Need Nobody’ are monumental anthems that retain a personal intimacy: epic tracks with a heart and soul. Goulding worked with Max Martin, Greg Kurstin, One Republic’s Ryan Tedder, Klas Ahlund and Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence as well as long-time writing partner Jim Eliot in crafting the defining album of her career, a jubilant and euphoric pop statement. It was written and recorded in London, Herefordshire, Sweden and Los Angeles. ‘Delirium’ is an expansive pop album that reflects its globe-spanning creation. Some artists might be inhibited about where to go after such success but Goulding had no doubts: make everything bigger, better and braver.
This year’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ single, meanwhile, was a worldwide Number One hitting the top spot in 70 countries and breaking the record for the most streamed song in one week.
Since the release of her debut ‘Lights’ in 2010, she has sold over 20 million records, had two Number One albums, won two Brit Awards and had Vevo views and streams both in excess of one billion. It has been a whirlwind few years for the singer from Herefordshire. ‘Delirium’ is the follow-up to 2012’s ‘Halcyon’, which cemented Goulding’s status as a global artist.