Folktronica Artist Ellie Goulding Premiers KILLER New Single, 'Anything Could Happen,' Out August 21st; New Album, Halcyon, Due October 9th

Wanna know what song I've been listening to on repeat for the past two days? I'll give you a hint. It's a new song from an artist whose first name is ELLIE.  That's right. Britain's folktronica DARLING (and girlfriend of international DJ extraordinaire Skrillex) is amping up for the release of her sure-to-be EPIC sophomore album, Halcyon which is due October 8th in the UK (Polydor Records) and October 9th in the U.S. via Cherrytree Records/Interscope.  First single, "Anything Could Happen," due August 21st, is absolute perfection in every regard.  Now, excuse me while I crawl into my corner and proceed with the shaking and crying.

Here in America, the late summer release of "Anything Could Happen" couldn't come at a better time for the 25 year old singer/songwriter from Herefordshire.  Goulding's last single "Lights" may have been released to U.S. radio back in January, but it's been steadily climbing the Billboard Hot 100 charts for the past few months, this week making it all the way to #2.  The slow burning success of "Lights" (a song which I LOVE, but am starting to grow tired of) continues to transcend multiple Billboard Chart categories including On-Demand Songs (#1), Hot 100 Airplay (#4), and Hot Digital Songs (#8).  While I'd love to see Ellie unseat reigning Billboard Hot 100 queen Carly Rae Jepsen next week, I won't hold my breath.  Still - seeing Ellie achieve this much success here in the States is fantastic!  Better late than never America!

Halcyon (named after a mythical bird, but also an an adjective in reference to tranquility, prosperity and happiness) is the follow up to Goulding's 2010 debut which landed the #1 spot on the UK Albums Chart and so far has peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200.  The album spawned three top 20 hits for Goulding, including two top 5's ("Your Song," "Starry Eyed"). Funnily enough, it was Goulding's sixth and final single that became her biggest success story here in America, where in the UK the song peaked just inside the top 50.

Goulding co-wrote and co-produced the new album in it's entirety, recording the majority of the album in a converted barn located in her hometown in Hay Valley, West England, with producer and Kish Mauve-co-founder Jim Elliot (Kylie Minogue, Ladyhawke).  Check out this nifty little video which includes some snippets of the new material.

Ellie has been taking her time on this new record, which has been good for her career outside of the UK, giving her plenty of time to come across the pond and promote the hell out of "Lights."  On the new album, Goulding says: "This album for me is a journey from dark into light, from confusion to understanding. I didn't set out to write a break-up record but I think it became one." In a recent article on NME's website, Goulding is already thinking about her upcoming tour, telling the interviewer "The tour is going to be bigger for this record, and in terms of production, a lot more is going to go into it. It's gonna be a bit more advanced this time as I think about it a little bit more, trying to be more clever."  YES! I have to say that, while I loved seeing Ellie live (TWICE!), the stage production was a bit lackluster.  Sure, the focus should ALWAYS be on the music but production value does play into the overall experience for the concert goer. I'm salivating just thinking about seeing Goulding live again!

In July, Goulding released a free download of a new track from Halcyon, "Hanging On," originally performed by Active Child, a US-based electronica artist.  Goulding's cover, featuring a rap by friend and collaborator Tinie Tempah, got so much initial attention that it actually crashed the SoundCloud server!  Not only that, but "Hanging On" was the number one most blogged AND played track on Hype Machine during that week, racking up one million total plays/views on YouTube and SoundCloud.  A companion music video was also released, which you can watch BELOW.

Also featured BELOW is the stunningly creative lyric video for Goulding's new single, "Anything Could Happen," which was created for and by the fans.  Ellie's dedicated fans were asked to send in photos via Instagram, which would then be incorporated into a sort of video collage.  Boy, did they deliver! Over 1,200 beautiful and deeply personal photos were submitted and the end result is a poignant, ultra complementary lyric video.

The anthemic new single "Anything Could Happen" will be released August 21st, followed by Halcyon on October 9th.

Check out Ellie Goulding on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube//VEVO