Ellie Goulding joins Zane Lowe in-studio on Apple Music 1 to discuss her forthcoming fifth studio album ‘Higher Than Heaven’. She tells Apple Music the project was a direct reaction to lockdown and discusses how becoming a mother changed everything for her, the pressures put on artists in the modern music landscape, embracing TikTok, being most confident on stage, what she loves about collaborating with Calvin Harris, the crucial role music plays in her life, working on a classical album in the future and more.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About Her New Album ‘Higher Than Heaven’…
I think it was probably a direct reaction to lockdown. And I got back together with a few writers I've worked with over the years, and we'd all come from different places and we were all just, I mean, nobody's in the mood to write a ballad, or to talk about our feelings, and how much things had sucked over the past couple of years. I think we were all keen to just shake that off and sing about being free again… It was quite nice because Brightest Blue was quite heavy album for me, heavy to perform, heavy to write. And so God, the idea that I could just go in and sing and become this kind of character, and have a different persona and sing about love, and sexuality and just being, I don't know, on some other planet, that really appealed to me. And it appealed to everyone in the studio in the room, and it just happened naturally.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music How Becoming a Mother Changed Everything For Her...
I mean, I had no choice but to go forward because I had a child and that changes everything. It did for me anyway. It was like, I mean, that happening in lockdown and it was a lot. It was a lot. And I assumed when I had Arthur that I could just go back to normal, crack on with my 10K runs and then get in the studio and everything would just be great. But no, it was not that at all. I realized that I didn't factor in how much I wanted to spend time with him, how much I wanted to just be around him all the time. So that became my new life and it is my new life and he is the biggest thing in my world. And it has changed everything for me. I don't think I've changed as a writer yet. I certainly haven't found that space yet where I want to write about motherhood. It's coming. I can feel it coming.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About The Pressure Put on Artists in the Current Music Landscape...
There's a lot of, I'm just going to say it, there is a lot of waiting around for an artist to make something happen and make something viral. I would say it's different now. You have more control, but you are also like, "What the hell is going on?" I don't know. There's so many different ways of now putting your music out there and giving yourself, like, "Do I give too much? Do I give little that? What do I do?" It's like, "Am I giving away too much or am I not giving enough?" So it's that thing now where, yeah, you can put everything out there or you can still keep it locked in. Maybe that's better for your sanity, but you just know that people are just desperate for information, desperate for... They want to know you, they want to know every single thing that goes into a song. They now want to know a song before it even comes out, even gets played on the radio for the first time.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About Embracing TikTok…
I mean, am a TikToker. Am I allowed to say that? Look, the videos that my label make and management make just don't often get the same attention as me just coming home late night dancing in my kitchen. But then it gets addictive and then you're like, oh, you can just keep pushing it. How far do I go with how much people know about me, how much of a dork I am? I feel like the mysterious thing is just gone. No one can do that anymore.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About Being Most Confident on Stage…
That is my safe place. When I say... I promise you, I don't know what it is. Just when I'm on stage, I can sing...for hours. I can just... I'm up there. I'm the most confident mother***er in the world. But put me in a room with people or last night a party. Yeah. I don't know what to do. It's not my natural habitat.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music What She Loves About Collaborating with Calvin Harris and Says She Doesn’t Think He’s Ever Made Anything That Isn’t Good...
I played it cool, actually. I think I was having one of those days where I was like, "God, I do need something." It was quite serendipitous like that. I felt like I needed something fresh. I needed to work with someone new. I needed to collaborate. And he just texted me out of the blue and said, "Got this song. Do you want to hear it?" And I don't know, people might not share this opinion, but I don't think he's ever done anything bad. I don't think he's ever made anything that isn't good. That's just my opinion. Like Love Regenerator, all his side stuff. The last record, some people were like, "Oh, we wish he went back to his old style." But I genuinely have loved every single thing he's ever done. So I had no doubt in my mind that when he messages me with a song, it's not just some random thing that he stumbled across that he thought, "Oh, maybe Ellie could do this." He was very sure in his head. And that's what he's like as a producer. He's one of the most confident, in the best possible way producers, where I trust every single thing he does. And I feel like when he says to me, "What do you think about this?" in the best possible way, he's not going to take my advice because he already knows. He asks me out of politeness, but he's got everything down. He knows what he's doing....I feel like we're similar. I feel like we're quite low key and we just like to make music and let it set sail. And we play shows. We love to play live. And we've sold a lot of records, but we've got a similar kind of vibe. I'd say we're both... I think he's introverted like me.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About The Role Music Plays in Her Day-To-Day Life…
I mean, I obviously listen to music every day. It's just part of my everyday. Like so many people I'm sure that come on this show, I live it, I breathe it, and I always have since I was really young. And I just thought, I assumed everybody was into music the same way… So yeah, I mean it's just at the moment combination of my son and I don't know, dealing with anxiety stuff at the moment. I do listen to a lot of classical, so it's funny when I bring songs out, this next album Higher Than Heaven, it seems as though I've been listening to lots of stuff that's got me inspired. But sometimes I make the best music when I've been out of the loop and I haven't been listening to any pop music.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music Why She Always Says Yes To Requests To Use Her Music in Television and Films...
Oh god, I love it. I love that. Yeah. When my love for music came from listening to film soundtracks and I'd remember moments from a film mostly because of the music, the music would take me back to the moment rather than the other way around. So yeah, God, that's always been my dream. The idea of my music being part of that crucial moment in a TV show or a film. Yeah, god, that's the dream. So, I always say yes, always, which is why I have done quite a lot of little film and TV things, and eventually I'd love to compose something for a film maybe.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music She’s Working on a Classical Album…
I have made a classical album in the past couple of years, a few friends, we just have to finish it. But yeah, so I'm kind of moving towards that. I think that would be fun.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music Why She Likes Visiting Los Angeles…
I do like LA. I don't come here enough. I instantly feel healthier. I do sleep better when I'm here. Maybe it's the sun, sun helps my, I don't know, what is it called? Circadian rhythm? Is that what it's called? But yeah, I do like being here, it always feels like stuff's always happening and people are always here and I instantly have to socialize when I'm here, which doesn't really happen much in London for whatever reason. But like yeah, everyone's friendly here. Someone was saying last night, "It's not a fake place like that." People call it a fake place a lot in the UK. And it's actually just maybe people are just nice here, which I think is, that is the case.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About Embracing Music at a Young Age to Help Combat Anxiety…
I'm working on that every day. But I remember when I was a kid, I didn't know it was anxiety. Again, I assumed everyone was scared and anxious about things. And then the second I started... I played clarinet for a long time in an orchestra. And then I taught myself guitar and then I started singing. And then the second I learnt to sing and play at the same time, it was just like I'd got locked into a place of safety in my voice and in my songs. And then I had that pretty much all the way through my teens and then my twenties. Even, like I said, the act of just singing is so good for you. I don't know. It was always something that kept me sane. And so I just don't think we had an opportunity to process how heavy not being able to see people and not being able to perform.
Ellie Goulding Tells Apple Music About Growing Up with Electronic Music...
I always thought I was going to end up being a techno muse because that's the music I grew up with. My earliest memories was listening to Orbital and I was really inspired by them when I first started, I don't know, making music in my late teens I guess. So yeah, I thought that was where the direction I was always going to go in. And the first people I contacted on back in the day on MySpace were electronic producers. Burial was the first person I reached out to. We still speak, which is just amazing. He still has the same number after all of 10 years or something.
