Ellie Goulding topped the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. It’s voted for by critics and music industry insiders but after that win and her Brits Critics’ Choice Award, does her debut album Lights live up to expectations? Read our Lights MP3 review now to find out.
Under The Sheets, Ellie Goulding’s debut single, dripped out onto the internet to get music bloggers hot and bothered last year, was a cracking tune and it left us excited to hear what she could deliver with her debut Lights. Sadly, that early promise isn’t fulfilled.
Opener, Guns and Horses, is a folk song with electronic drums grafted on like an ear on the back of a laboratory mouse. It doesn’t quite convince. Goulding’s vocals dance around the track, her voice straining to convey an emotion you just can’t get a handle on.
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Starry Eyed is the indie dance-floor filler and the only other song on Lights to match the catchiness of Under The Sheets (which is lyrically downright sinister – “Out there a lonely girl could drown/in here we’re frozen”).
This Love (Will Be Your Downfall) is so lightweight it would struggle to stand up in a slight breeze. It sounds like a knocked off Sugababes b-side and is arguably Lights’ weakest moment.
Every Time You Go with its finger clicks and Hounds of Love-esque “uh-oh-oh-oh” backing vocals is much better, giving a sense of what Starsmith’s beats-driven production and Goulding’s delicate way with a tune could deliver given a bit more time to develop.
Apple’s iTunes Genius function offers up Shayne Ward and Pixie Lott as recommendations while you listen to Lights. That’s not a great vote of confidence for Ellie Goulding from Mr Jobs’s all-knowing algorithm.
Last year’s Brits Critics’ Choice Award winner, Florence & The Machine, struggled with the pressure but ultimately delivered a massive selling and critically lauded album. Ellie Goulding has been grabbing great reviews too but this record is as bland as those Genius recommendations might suggest.
Like the mouse with the ear slapped on its back, Lights is a chimera, an unnatural combination of Starsmith’s electronic sheen and Goulding’s folky instincts. It’s not that mixing those influences isn’t possible, more that in this case it doesn’t feel honest.
Download Ellie Goulding – Lights on iTunes for £6.99
Download Ellie Goulding – Lights on 7Digital for £5.00
Download Ellie Goulding – Lights on Amazon for £3.99
