A long long time, 2011 I think, I was very disappointed that Jessie J had bailed on the Katy Perry tour and I was stuck with Ellie Goulding, the poor man's version of a Brit Chick rock star. I hadn't been crazy about Lights or "Lights" and anyway she hadn't broken Stateside yet.
But Ellie was really good, a powerhouse dance girl, on stage, smashing a great big drum center stage and singing her guts out and then: "Lights" hit the US Charts and Ellie was dating, ta dah Skrillex of all people. Then came a sold out gig at T5 last July and finally an excellent single, "Anything Can Help" which didn't break here and an album, Halycon, I found disappointing at the time, but it has withstood a couple of months and sounds better today.
There is a pale English Rose about Ellie (not unlike Laura Marling physically) and it plays off her like of fragility musicwise. I am not saying she is a Lita Ford, but she is tougher than you'd think and a great central force when she takes the stage. Though a little too much humility when I saw her, I bet she drops that now and fast and I wonder how, with two albums, only one a hit, she manages the crowd.
On record her voice is light but not weak, a soprano that you'd expect to be mining folk not dance but it gives her music an ethreal quality belied by the songs themselves. A unique blend and not an unpleasant one
Both of Ellie's dates this January 21st and 22nd, 2013, are sold out but should be worth a trip to Stubhub for.