Ellie Goulding

Arguably the most attractive blonde drumming singer-songwriter in the world today, having scored big with her first album in 2010, has now announced some details for her forthcoming 2nd album:

'Halcyon'

I really liked her 1st album so I'm hoping this new one is in the same league

Right, so with 'Halcyon' out later this month, here's the lead-off single from it:

Anything Could Happen

In fact, 'Halcyon' goes on sale tomorrow

Pleased to see that 'Lights' was the 5th biggest seller of the year in the US.

Here's the follow-up to 'ACH':

Figure 8

3rd single from the album has been

Explosions

which seems to have done better chart business than 'Figure 8' I didn't take to F8 at first, but it grew on me. This hasn't, really.

Perhaps after the increased success of her Calvin Harris collaboration 'I Need Your Love', her next single in August will be accompanied by a reissued version of her 2nd album, with several new tracks, called 'Halcyon Days'  

And here is said new single:

Burn

Sounds like an improvement to me  

'Burn' has become her 1st #1 single  holding off competition from the returned (and rubbish) Lady Gaga.

As well as 'Burn' remaining #1, her repackaged album (now 'Halcyon Days') shot back up to #3, behind the new ones from Avenged Sevenfold and Naughty Boy  

Ellie won one of the proper awards at yesterday's Q Awards ceremony:

But David Bowie won nowt

Though if you look at the full list of winners, you'll notice about 2/3 are sort of "outstanding contribution" type non-awards, which tells its own story.

Her next single will also be this year's official tune for the BBC charity Children In Need telethon, which won't hurt its chances:

How Long Will I Love You?

Despite the CiN connection, it only reached #3 in a week of tough competition.

Ellie Goulding - Live
A short showcase from 2010 and thus comprising 5 tracks from her first album. A surprise was the inclusion of 'This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)' and the omission of title track 'Lights'. But a nice show, all the same.

'Halcyon Days' finally crawled to #1, presumably on the strength of January sales   

Ibiza Rocks: Ellie Goulding Live
Half an hour from sometime last summer, with only 'Lights' from her 1st album, and ending on 'I Need Your Love'.

Ellie Goulding - Isle of Wight 2013
Another half-hour chunk of material, this time ending on 'Starry Eyed', and replacing 'Explosions' with 'Your Song'.

Her new single will be

Goodness Gracious

although presumably it will be the last one from the album (6 so far, 7 depending if it includes 'I Need Your Love')

Ellie won "Best British Female Artist" at the Brit Awards last night, beating a few duffers in the process. Oddly, 20-odd years ago, this award would be slagged for nominations to people like Annie Lennox and Kate Bush, so nothing's really changed.

Ellie Goulding's Hangout
A similar format to the Katy B one I watched recently, here with Ellie giving brief interview-type comments about some of her videos, and some of the people she has collaborated with or otherwise admired (Drake, Calvin Harris, Katy Perry etc). The videos tended to be drawn from her 2nd album more than her 1st, which is kinda understandable, but a bit of a pity.

Another single is impending, taken from a film soundtrack, and it is

Beating Heart

So that must be some kind of good sign   

It entered at #9 this week, which is a bit better than some of her others have done (her last single peaked at #16, for instance)   

Ellie Goulding @ Glastonbury (2014)
A short-ish show compared to some, but the crowd seemed to love it. Not sure whether she favoured material from either album, really. She ended on 'Burn', which seems to have the status of her biggest success now.

Ellie Goulding @ T in the Park
Only half an hour of coverage, during which she managed 7 songs, mixed from both albums. I'd expect a 3rd album would be due in 2015.

She's got a new single out soon, from the soundtrack of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie:

Love Me Like You Do

Whether it has the same success as her work with Calvin Harris remains to be seen.

Ahem, so for "out soon" read that very week, and for "do as well as Calvin Harris", read straight bloody in at #1 Sadly, it's not a sudden realisation that she's awesome, or that it's a great song, it's FiftyShadesMania

"Love Me Like You Do" was a monster success, albeit with the "50 Shades" bandwagon behind it.

Ellie Goulding: Live in Puerto Rico
A short but welcome prog, with her 2nd album being the bulk of the material, only "Lights" shining (!) from the 1st.