Ellie Goulding has been at pains to point out how Delirium is her full-on pop record which, as I’m not the first reviewer to point out, rather begs the question of what previous outings Lights and Halcyon were.
Goulding’s album is 16 tracks (22 in the deluxe edition, 25 in something called the Target edition) of production line 2015 electronic chart music. Any song could be a single and, Goulding’s voice aside, could be by anyone.
It’s hugely influenced, as so much is these days, by Taylor Swift’s 1989. That’s no surprise given Goulding has worked on it with Swift collaborators Max Martin and Ryan Tedder and fellow pop overlord Greg Kurstin (Sia, Haim, the new Adele album).
It’s great background music but not remotely challenging.
Like this? Try these: Taylor Swift, 1989; Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear
By Andrew Greenhalgh
@adjgreenhalgh
www.andrewgreenhalgh.co.uk
Thirty three and a third: Record reviews by Andrew Greenhalgh 