When Ellie Goulding finally returned to the recording studio after lockdown, she knew for sure what her new album wouldn’t be. “Nobody was in any kind of ballad mood after two years indoors,” she laughs.
Her fifth studio album, Higher Than Heaven, came out of those sessions, and there’s not a ballad in earshot. It’s bright, cutting electro-pop that’s dancefloor ready and feels reminiscent of Swedish pop sensation Robyn in places. “I think it was an almost direct reaction to the pandemic and not being able to do the thing that I love, which is performing, and the fact none of us could go and dance with our friends,” she says.
