Ellie Goulding -- Lights

7/10

I'm a sucker for weird girls. Always have been as long as I can remember, starting with that brunette girl in kindergarten who told me she wanted to scoop out my eyeballs with a spoon and eat them(my reaction: To scream "No!" while running away just slowly enough). It probably goes back even further than that. The same thing extends for me musically. I'm more interested in postage stamps than whatever pop starlet is hot right now, but some weird girl singing weirdly over weird music? I'll go for that every time, so long as she's good. My first experience with Brit, Ellie Goulding, was her earlier acoustic demos, and with her otherworldly, warbling voice, she was just weird enough. On top of that, she can ACTUALLY PLAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

I have to say, though, I wish her U.S. debut was weirder. A few tracks from Ellie's British debut were shaved to make room for U.S. dance hit, "Lights," and a very orthodox cover of Elton John's "Your Song." This is unfortunate, but enough of Goulding's weirdness still shines through, and what's left is so infectious, it doesn't really matter anyway. Goulding's original acoustic songs are transformed into fairly innovative electronic pop songs, and less innovative electronic pop songs, but sometimes her original framework remains and meshes with the new for even better results.

And it's weird. Plus, everything worked out for me. I get to live with a woman who tells me she is going to eat my eyeballs almost every day, though the phrase is usually preceded by, "If you make that stupid face at me again..."

2011 Cherrytree Records/Interscope
1. Lights (Single Version) 3:32
2. Guns and Horses3:35
3. Starry Eyed 2:56
4. This Love (Will Be Your Downfall) 3:53
5. Under the Sheets 3:44
6. The Writer 4:11
7. Animal 3:40
8. Every Time You Go 3:25
9. Your Biggest Mistake 3:25
10. Salt Skin 4:17
11. Your Song 3:10