Once, she sang wistfully of what she could accomplish if she only had a brain. In the years since, it’s obvious she had one all along, as you don’t reach her heights without one. Or without talent.
We speak of British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, who at age 14 scored one of her early stage appearances playing the Scarecrow in a high school production of The Wizard of Oz. Since then? She’s been a chart-climber on both sides of the pond, releasing popular singles (“Your Song,” “Lights,” “Burn,” “Love Me Like You Do”) and albums (Lights, Halcyon and last year’s Delirium) that have attracted notice from both fans and critics, the latter focusing on her unique pipes.
Consider this critique from Neil McCormick of the UK’s Daily Telegraph, who described Goulding’s voice as “something special,” then explained: “Her tremulous vibrato and slightly hoarse timbre have the feel of something primal and folky, her birdlike high notes conveying a childlike wonder while darker tones imply ancient depths of sorrow. She sings like she is strung out on the melody, warbling from a place of desperate emotion. It really is that rarest and perhaps most accidental of gifts: an original voice.” Rolling Stone magazine chimed in as well, comparing her voice favorably to Dolly Parton’s and calling her upper register “dazzling.”
In an interview with Carson Daly, Goulding herself weighed in on her vocals: “I think sometimes it sounds like my voice is like, out of control,” Goulding said. “I have to really control it because it just kind of goes everywhere. Like, sometimes stuff comes out that I don’t expect. … It’s so funny because my favorite thing to do is imitate opera singers, but I’ve never had a singing lesson.”
You’ve heard what they say. Now see—and hear—for yourself.
Mandalay Bay, 7:30 p.m. April 9, $39.50-$59.50 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
