There's a certain breed of pop star who, upon achieving a certain level of fame, retreats into hushed tones and restrained palettes. Think beige cashmere sweaters and confessional whispers. A deliberate counterpoint, perhaps, to the bombast that propelled them into the stratosphere. Ellie Goulding, however, isn't one of them.
No, Goulding, with her recent album Higher Than Heaven, has doubled down. On the sheer, unadulterated bigness of it all. An explosion of synths, a chorus of voices, emotions cranked up to eleven. It's a risky move, this embrace of maximalism. A tightrope walk between exhilarating and overwhelming. And yet, somehow, Goulding doesn't just walk it, she dances.
I remember seeing her perform years ago, back when her sound was more acoustic, more intimate. Even then, there was a largeness to her presence, a way she commanded the stage that belied the simplicity of her setup. It's this innate understanding of scale, I think, that allows her to navigate the maximalist landscape with such confidence.
Because it's not just about volume, this maximalism. It's about layering. Textures. The way a single, crystalline vocal line can cut through a wall of sound, leaving you breathless. Or the way a sudden, unexpected silence can be more powerful than any bass drop.
There's a vulnerability, too, in this kind of exposure. A willingness to lay it all out, to risk being "too much." And in a world that often seems determined to shrink us down, to make us small and palatable, that feels almost radical.
Take, for instance, the track "Easy Lover." A song so drenched in yearning, so unapologetically emotional, it would feel suffocating if it weren't for the sheer propulsion of the beat, the way it pulls you onto the dance floor and dares you not to move. It's excessive, sure. But in the best way possible.
And then there's "How Long," a song that feels like a lost 80s power ballad, all soaring vocals and shimmering synths. It's the kind of song that, in lesser hands, could easily veer into parody. But Goulding, with her clear-eyed sincerity, sells it completely. You believe her when she sings, "How long will it take for you to break my heart?" You feel the weight of those emotions, the sheer enormity of them.
It's interesting, this current fascination with maximalism in pop music. Perhaps it's a reaction to the sanitized, algorithm-driven sounds that have dominated the charts in recent years. A yearning for something more, well, human. Or maybe it's just that, in a world that feels increasingly chaotic and overwhelming, there's a certain comfort in surrendering to the bigness of it all. In letting the music wash over you, consume you.
Whatever the reason, Goulding's Higher Than Heaven is a masterclass in the art of maximalism. It's an album that's both exhilarating and emotionally resonant, a reminder that sometimes, more is more. And that in a world that often tells us to shrink ourselves, it can be incredibly powerful to embrace the full spectrum of who we are, in all our messy, complicated, glorious excess.
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