My favorite "electro-folk-acoustic-pop" princess, Ellie Goulding will release the U.S. version of her critically acclaimed album, Lights here in America on March 8th via Cherrytree Records. This news couldn't come at a better time. I had been mulling over the idea of buying her UK re-release, Bright Lights, despite already owning the original release. This wouldn't be the first time I bought basically the same album twice. It's totally worth it to me for the new songs alone. Now, with this news, I can just wait and just buy the U.S. version of the album this Spring. Problem solved.
The U.S. version of Lights will feature three songs not featured on the original UK release of the album back in February of last year. Granted, the "new" tracks aren't completely new, seeing as that they all appear on Bright Lights, I don't yet own a physical copy of an album including these songs so this album is a MUST HAVE for me. Included on the album we have a new version of album track "Lights," new song "Animal" and Goulding's take on the Elton John classic, "Your Song." The album was produced by the up & coming British composer/remixer/producer extraordinaire Starsmith (AKA Finlay Dow-Smith), featuring additional production from he likes of Frankmusik, Fraser T. Smith, Fred Falke and more.
Lights went all the way to the #1 spot on the UK album chart back in March of last year and one year later Goulding will be trying her luck on the Billboard charts. While I have yet to hear much in the way of radio love her in the States for the singer/songwriter, I am cautiously optimistic. With a little live TV promo + maybe some film and television placements, I think she could very well hit it off right over on this side of the pond. Here's hoping! Ellie was over here this past September in support of her digital EP, An Introduction To Ellie Goulding, performing a couple of live gigs in both New York and Los Angeles. Looks like she made quite the first impression on BOTH coasts. The New Yorker called her "the future of music" while the Los Angeles Times touted her for her overall talent as a well rounded musician, going on to say "She can reel off some powerful drum and guitar chops and her voice is a serious and sure instrument in person." Let's hope Spring time sees a bit more U.S. face time for Ellie Goulding. It's still my dream to see her perform live here in Boston somewhere.
Ellie Goulding's last chart success in the UK was her most recent single, a cover of Elton John's "Your Song," which was used in holiday adverts for the British department store John Lewis. The song went on to hit #2 on the UK singles charts and #1 on the iTunes Chart. Download her EP, An Introduction To Ellie Goulding on iTunes HERE.
Check out Ellie Goulding on the web: