Toronto – I remember there was a point at the monthly Toronto indie blogger brunch when we were all in deep discussion and Michael from For The Records turned to me and blankly said “but you like pop music” and I was like “Well, yes I do.”. I don’t know why I specifically remembered that, but I am about to write about another pop act.
Ellie Goulding was the darling of the English media in 2010. She was named #1 artist to look for in BBC’s annual poll last year and with her girl next door looks and a distinct voice, she made the most of it. Her debut album, Lights made it to #1 and she had a series of hit singles, including Starry Eyed, Guns and Horses and Under the Sheets. I for one, like all of those songs and listen to them regularly. It’s some good pop music.
Like any sensible artist from England, the next logical step is to conquer America and Ellie Goulding will be attempting that with full force this March, starting with an assault on SXSW in Austin in March. Here are her tour dates:
3/16-9 – Austin, TX at SXSW
3/22 – Washington,DC at Rock And Roll Hotel
3/23 – Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/24 – New York, NY at Webster Hall
3/25 – Philadelphia, PA at World Café Live Downstairs
3/27 – Toronto, CAN at Great Hall
3/30 – Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall
3/31 – Minneapolis, MN at Fine Line Music Café
4/2 – Boulder, CO at Fox Theater
4/3 – Salt Lake City, UT at Avalon Theatre
4/10 – Vancouver, CAN at Venue
4/11 – Seattle, WA at Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room
4/13 – Portland, OR at Doug Fir Lounge
4/14 – San Francisco, CA at Rickshaw Stop (Popscene)
4/16 – San Diego, CA at Casbah
4/17 – Indio, CA at COACHELLA
With that out of the way, let’s get to the cover. In late November, Ellie did what most new artists do when they get initially famous – re-release their debut album, with one or two new songs. It’s a blatant cash cow, but it works. One of those new songs was a cover of Elton John’s Your Song. She released it in conjunction with some advert and as a result, it became a massive hit and was on the telly ALL THE TIME (besides N-Dubz) when we were in England. As a result, I decided I kind of like it. Here’s the video:
One of the most mystifying things about Ellie Goulding is that I can’t determine whether or not she’s hot. She has a really nice smile and I guess her PR people have cultivated a really friendly, girl next door vibe to her. Now the curious thing about girl next door types is that they are never really super hot, because then you get the feeling that they are unattainable, but the girl next door types are typically quite attractive, but in that attainable kind of way. I don’t know, maybe thats shallow sounding, but I just conferred with Paul and he says “no, man. thats deep” so maybe I am kind of deep. What does this have to do with her music though? I am unsure, but pop music, they say, is usually a package of looks, music and personality, so maybe I’m just going along with that. By the way, I just made that one up to justify the last paragraph.
Either way, this is a pretty good cover of the Elton John tune and so you should check it out.
Your Song Cover (Elton John Ellie Goulding) by Sianna Jade
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