Rating: C-
Ellie Goulding released her new album, “Delirium,” this past Friday, Nov. 6. Goulding first rose to fame and made a name for herself back in 2011, during which time she released the single “Lights,” which was an instant hit on radio stations across the U.S. and U.K.
Since then, Goulding has released numerous singles and collaborated with artists such as Calvin Harris. Her music has been featured in soundtracks, such as MTV’s “Awkward,” along with the films “Divergent” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.” With all of this publicity in the past few years, and her sound on “Delirium,” it has fans wondering — has Goulding reached her peak in the music world?
“Delirium” features a tracklist of 16 songs, with 22 songs on the Deluxe Edition. Although there are plenty of songs on the record, one would think that the entire album is just one long song. Every song on the record generally follows the same structure Goulding has used for years, and is now at the point of irritation. Her songs seem catchy with electronic dance music instrumentals and repeating choruses, but after the fifth song, the album becomes rather boring, and you can see that Goulding’s songs lack lyrical content.
For example, the intro track is nearly two minutes of what sounds like Goulding performing vocal warm-ups in the recording booth. One would think that she would have done something more exciting with her third studio album to capture the listener’s attention, but no, she doesn’t fulfill her music potential.
The lead single off of the album, “Love Me Like You Do,” came out earlier this year to promote “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The song sounded nice and romantic in the film, but a closer listen reveals Goulding just repeats the song’s title multiple times in the chorus. The same goes for Goulding’s other single, “On My Mind.” These songs sound great the first time you hear them, but soon they become useful only as white noise for homework.
Listeners will soon realize how altered Goulding’s voice is on “Delirium.” Her voice is often heavily distorted, and it is evident there was a lot done during the editing process to tweak her voice, either for effect or just correction. Although this may work in the electronic genre in which Goulding is classified, it has fans wondering what Goulding will sound like performing these songs in a live setting.
“Delirium” is an album with great potential, but in reality is a huge disappointment. Its lack of substance is borderline depressing for original fans. Goulding has created a generic electronic-pop album that gets old quickly. I’m sure that the songs on “Delirium” will be great for remixing due to their repetitive nature, but when the original versions of the songs come on the radio, I will most likely switch to another station.
Goulding is planning on touring in Europe early next year to support the release of “Delirium.” Hopefully her original fans do not find her washed out at this point, and she will still fill venues.
