Spotlight Tuesday: Ellie Goulding

Perhaps, the surprise of the year has been Ellie Goulding's "Lights" reaching #2 on the U.S. Hot 100 just this past week in its thirty-third week on the chart, while only reaching #49 in the U.K. She seemed like a thin hope to chart so high in a country across the ocean of her native. Already, she made ripples in her home country of England, and I came in contact with her work last fall at the urging of Youtube ads for the music video of "Starry Eyed" (UK version). However, it seems favor for her has reached American listeners, even though it was not until the last single of her first album Lights. So what of her story have Americans missed?

Goulding was raised in Lyonshall, England, eventually attending the University of Kent, where she was introduced to electronic music. She had been songwriting since age 15, but with the help of Starsmith and Frankmusik, who both became producers of Lights, her songs took an electropop route. In 2009, she gained an internet following and signed to Polydor Records. By the end of the year, she released the EP An Introduction of Ellie Goulding, preceded by the single "Guns And Horses." Her second single "Starry Eyed" premiered in February 2010, reaching #4 in the UK, and a few weeks later, Lights debuted in the UK at #1.

November 2010 marked the re-release of the album as Bright Lights, whose first single, a cover of Elton John's "Your Song," peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart. Goulding had spent the previous summer touring (including a stint in March as the supporting act of my previous artist spotlight Passion Pit) and was introduced to Prince William by fellow music newcomer Tinie Tempah. She was invited to perform at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding reception on 29 April 2011. Tinie Tempah also featured her on his 2010 single "Wonderman."

March 2011 claimed the North American release of Lights (which consists of eight of the ten tracks from the original Lights and three of the seven bonus tracks featured on Bright Lights), while the single "Lights" became available for American download in May 2011 and for radio airplay in January 2012. She also opened for select dates of Katy Perry's "California Dreams Tour" during its second North American leg in November 2011.

Goulding's next album Halcyon is set for a U.S. release on 9 October of this year with its lead single "Anything Could Happen" to be released in the UK on 21 August. Fellow UK artist Mika has also announced Goulding's involvement in his upcoming album The Origin of Love (released 16 September).

Would I recommend her? If you like other indie pop-rock/folk females, such as Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spektor, or if you follow the current indie electropop movement, she may be of interest to you. Personally, I don't care for the quirks of her voice, though I do like her remix EP Run Into The Light and that she uses themes of light--I am always fond of light. There is a whispering beauty to her style, however, even through her heavy British accent that often abandons the common pop accent that is flat American. I will admit her production sound is indie electropop at its finest!