Ellie Goulding

Brightest Blue

Brightest Blue sees Ellie Goulding at her most honest, yet knowing and secure.

Brightest Blue is an album of sleekly produced, emotional gushing electropop elevated by Goulding’s vocals. When she downplays the contemporary production effects to really emote on old school soul ballad New Heights, it makes you wonder what Goulding might be like if she didn’t feel the need to try so hard.

The frequent thrill of the savvy mix that Ellie Goulding surfs cannot be denied.

Brightest Blue's main disc is Goulding's deepest emotional journey yet, a triumph of empowerment and self-discovery.

Brightest Blue, Goulding’s best and most vulnerable work yet, proves that we could never hate or replace her.

While the final handful of tracks certainly have their appeal, especially when taken on their own individual merit, it’s the first part of Brightest Blue that feels the most rounded, most accomplished. In short, it feels like Ellie Goulding at her most honest, and her most heartfelt.

While EG.0 holds Goulding's mainstream radio hits, it's Brightest Blue that has evolved Ellie Goulding as a songwriter. She's created two distinct spaces on this record, which allows her to continue her musical evolution while simultaneously maintaining her pop throne as pop royalty.

When others thought she had lost her Midas touch to crafting out-of-the-box, otherworldly pop music from back in her heyday, Brightest Blue presents itself to encapsulate everything Ellie is as an artist currently, and the artist she will live on to be.

Continuing the contradictory streak of Goulding’s career, Brightest Blue’s often compelling narrative of self-assurance still ends with an identity crisis.