Review Summary: Squandered and sheltered.
I feel like Ellie tried to do something here, and it only sort of worked. Certain synths and pads are old school, and certain tracks got disco influence (see Temptation). Other tracks are electronic-ish pop with house influence. Yet other tracks are more prominently full of blips on the radar (also bloops). Essentially, the music is stuffed with electronic music enough for me to say, “Whoah, she brought back the Burn vibe”. You know her single Burn? If you know you know. Anywho, I feel like that was the plan, and that type of catchiness and immediacy is likewise brought back. The drawback is less unique songs, and the withholding of her intriguing direction found in the previous album.
This looks like a safe spot for Ellie’s music to chill. It’s squishy, marshmallowy, and generically sweet. There ain’t nothing wrong with cuddliness, and expectedly, Higher Than Heaven is a nice hug. Ellie continues doing her thing, and her thing is solid pop with a high emphasis on the vibrancy of a warm shower, with enveloping synths and Ellie’s snug voice. The choruses may not soar, but the pleasantly sung repetition seeps through the pores.
Now for a major gripe. The album doesn’t push Ellie or the medium of pop foreword in any substantial way. These synths and rhythms feel pulled out of 2016. Almost every song is safe radio pop, so safe I doubt these tracks will be remembered outside of their fan base. Better Man is one of the only songs that dares to do something slightly different from the rest of the generic pop soup. I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed. The last album showed Ellie had a creative bone in her body. For this album she ripped the bone out, and tried to patch the hole with uninspiring filling, like a badly wrapped gift bag. It doesn’t scream of immense effort.
Despite the previous paragraph, I still enjoy the album. It felt too short, but there was barely a second I didn’t enjoy. It’s music to put on and relax/bop to — an effect that radio pop often has. Not quite pure bliss, but engrossing enough to keep me drugged in some sort of zoned out haze. It’s not the excellent comeback I was hoping for, but it’s mildly satisfying. Forget the lyrics, allow yourself to get sucked in and there may be mild comfort included.
The tagline here could be that Ellie continues to make unmemorable albums. Even in her better albums, there’s usually one or two standout singles I’ll return to, and that’s the extent. Ellie Goulding may be a big name, but she needs to do more to impress me. Catchy choruses are great, as is her lovely singing voice, but I’d like to hear passion coming from her. Instead, all I hear is a soulless, auto-tuned pop star drone. I know Ellie can do better, I heard soul in her previous album, so I’m not sure how it came to this. Her sound is of the industry, yet is not industrious.
