Yes, I know. I'm a little behind posting this review. I've been busy. Get out of me!! Ellie Goulding took her sweet time hitting the top 10 in the US with her song Lights. The song, from Gouldings first album of the same name, took a year and three months to hit it's peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ellie wasting no time releasing her follow up album to the masses her in the US. Halcyon is a glitteringly dark and beautiful effort that draws instant comparisons to Annie Lennox and, surprisingly, Dolly Parton. There are spots on the album, namely the exquisite Only You, where you would swear Ellie's higher register was Dolly singing. That is a beyond-unbelievable-GREAT thing, by the way. From the dark opening of Don't Say A Word the album kicks our ass with sonic goodies. First single Anything Could Happen is a bouncy, catchy number with a killer hiccup riff that will stick in your head all day. The record simply drips from song to song with sumptuous beats and an ethereal voice that recalls Annie Lennox' debut solo Diva......and that's saying A LOT. Ellie's voice is so smooth and unusual that it is mesmerizing. Other standouts are the gentle title track, the urgent Figure 8, and the haunting Atlantis. But really there's not a throwaway track on the whole set. If you yearn for that time in the 90s when women artists were killing it with emotional music, Ellie fills that void and then some. Pick it up, y'all. Here is the gorgeous video for the first single Anything Could Happen. Enjoy.
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