Reviews

Ellie Goulding “Higher Than Heaven” Album Review

Higher Than Heaven

Ellie Goulding

  • Genre: Pop
  • Date: 07 Apr, 2023
  • Content: cleaned
  • Region: NGA
  • Track(s): 11
  • A Polydor Records Release; ℗ 2022 Universal Music Operations Limited

Ellie Goulding &Quot;Higher Than Heaven&Quot; Album Review, Yours Truly, Reviews, March 28, 2024

In her early 20s, indie pop singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding rose to fame. With 35 submissions to her name, she held the record for most UK submissions of any British female solo act. She has received 70 nominations and 30 award wins. According to the singer, her fifth studio album, “Higher than Heaven,” is less personal and analytical than Brightest Blue. (2020). But the songs also fly because of uplifting, cutting-edge electronic rhythms and euphonious, multi-layered, passionate, broad voices.

Ellie Goulding’s most recent album, which she describes as less personal than her previous work but still focused on romantic longings and difficulties, has as its central theme “being passionately in love, but it’s a hyper form of love, almost like a drug-induced feeling.”

The deluxe version has an additional Five songs.

Album Art

Ellie Goulding &Quot;Higher Than Heaven&Quot; Album Review, Yours Truly, Reviews, March 28, 2024

Ellie uses the album cover art in this instance, which depicts her hands stretched out and submerged in a vast expanse of water. She begins slowly sinking in as the sun’s rays cascade over her face. What Ellie might be alluding to here is only vital to her and her team if it has a genuine interest in them, but it is hinting at the happenings during the pandemic- which birthed this album. Perhaps the calmness on her face indicates some tranquility that Ellie has recently learned to appreciate following that experience.

Tracks and Features

Take me, let’s fly away / Midnight dreams, every time you look at me, she sings in the album opener “Midnight Dreams.” Album standout “Cure for Love” combines swooping disco strings with a four-to-the-floor thump and stacked layers of Goulding’s fluttering, powdered-sugar vocals.

Cure for Love comes after Midnight Dreams, which opens the album with quick, explosive energy and a strong 90s synth sound. The song’s deep piano, enthralling funk, and Goulding’s commanding soprano voice make it inexorably danceable.

The oh-so-’80s orchestra beats of “Temptation” are reminiscent of Janet Jackson. The industrial pounding of “Better Man” near the album’s conclusion seems to be the embodiment of the confidence Goulding claims she has gained over the past few years.

By the End of the Night is another fantastic dance song that features the artist’s beautiful voice and music with rich, rounded notes, a soft, echoing chorus, and violin-like background tones – a mellifluous dreaminess blended with a driving vigor. Before Goulding’s energetic vocals are joined by a powerful rhythm and an energizing tempo Like a Saviour’s brief, bizarre beginning gives off Far Eastern vibes.

The heavenly opening synth of Love Goes On transforms into a quick-paced love song with the singer’s melodic soul-pop and lovely mixed voices. Easy Lover, a vibrant duet with rapper Big Sean in electro-rock and hip-hop, is one of the album’s highlights. The disco-inspired title tune, which features a strong bass guitar, percussion, and airy chorus, highlights Goulding’s prodigious talent. Finally, let It Die blends ominous, turbulent noises with bright rhapsody, evoking the star’s Halcyon days and evoking the 1980s.

“Waiting for It,” a captivating R&B and soul collection, brings to mind “Brightest Blue.” It begins with a mystery muffled prelude that clears up to reveal overlapping, doubling, and voice layering. After a gentle introduction, the song “Just 4 You” develops with a wide-ranging synth and enthralling pace that evokes speeding across huge landscapes. “How Long” is the unique, eccentric lead-in that wraps up the album, beginning with a hint of French New Wave before blending with synth-pop in the 1960s. The song has a smoldering rhythm and bass, soft instrumentals, passionate vocals, and an exuberant but dreamy vibe.

Tracklist

NO TITLE TIME
1 Midnight Dreams 3:12
2 Cure For Love 2:57
3 By The End Of The Night 3:08
4 Like A Saviour 3:40
5 Love Goes On 3:52
6 Easy Lover (feat. Big Sean) 3:35
7 Higher Than Heaven 3:29
8 Let It Die 2:46
9 Waiting For It 3:19
10 Just For You 3:06
11 How Long 3:38

Album Summary

Something about the unique way Ellie Goulding promotes “Higher Than Heaven” is refreshing in an era where most pop musicians wax poetic about the soul-baring honesty of their lyrics. However, the record’s joy is tempered by fear about romantic ardor: “There’s the potential for a crash,” the artist sings in response to the pandemic. She is achieving this on her album Higher Than Heaven, in which 11 tracks deliver a jolting shot of nonstop bangers, each more secure than the last.

Outstanding vocals, instrumentals, and songwriting contributions to the song’s spontaneity and freshness. As a result, Higher than Heaven is an excellent effort by Goulding. It is uplifting and energetic, suggesting a hope that, after three years of anxiety, we might be able to let ourselves enjoy life and dance.

Back to top button