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| Ellie Goulding "lights" up the pop music landscape with her album Lights |
I was so taken with the song that I decided to get the full album. The only other songs I had from Ellie were "Starry Eyed" from last year and "Guns and Horses", which was listed as a free single on Amazon MP3.
I was honestly very surprised by this album. After hearing "Starry Eyed" last year, I thought she would be a one-hit wonder so I never bothered checking her album out when it was out in the UK. I was wrong, very, very wrong.
Lights is a dreamy, almost magical record. Literally. Every song on this album sounds like it was recorded in the core of a cloud somewhere high in the sky. Ellie Goulding's folksy, nymph-like voice was tailor-made for the light, airy synthpop that is the album's anchor. The album as a whole has a mystical, euphoric vibe that is simply irresistible. Even songs like "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)", which is pretty melancholic when you hone in on the lyrics, makes you want to dance in the sky. Lights works as a wonderfully cohesive listening experience; you shouldn't be surprised if you have the album on repeat for hours and you don't even realize it. Only one other album of recent memory had that effect on me, Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite.
Where Lights does fall short is in the individuality of the tracks. Many of the songs have the same sound: disco-lite electropop. While genre-specific album themes aren't a bad thing, it can get a little muddy if there isn't a bit of diversity in the sound. The album does have it's standouts, though. "Starry Eyed" is a swift, airy dane track that harkens back to the cloud metaphor I mentioned earlier. "Lights", as I mentioned in "iPhone Follies", is an irresistible discotheque in your head. "Your Biggest Mistake" is another standout, with a very memorable hook that's not abrasive. "Under The Sheets" is a bit rougher than the album's overall glacial style, a nice shakeup. "Your Song", a cover of the Elton John classic, is a flawless tearjerker, explaining it's massive success in the UK (peaking at #2 on the charts). The rest of the songs sort of gel together without much fanfare.
Ellie Goulding may have released the feelgood album of the year. It's a cohesive pack of electropop songs that are easily accessible, due to its very soft production. Yes, it is probably an acquired taste for some, but there is denying something special happening when you play this album.
Rating: 8/10
Key Tracks: "Your Song", "Lights", "Starry Eyed", "Your Biggest Mistake", "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)"
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