Turn It Up

Worth the wait in Goulding

September 30, 2010 1 Comment

Some of the most exciting music out today, particularly pop-wise, continues to arrive via the UK. Thing is, with too many record deals still written from an archaic, pre-digital download point-of-view, it takes quite some time for those artists to reach these shores at a reasonable price due; territory restrictions necessitate the signing of separate contracts to reach different countries with the same content.

I would have thought that with all of the label consolidation, legally accessing tunes from other territories would have gotten only easier via the Interweb, since the boundaries of physical geography shouldn’t come into play. But these so-yesterday restrictions can also come into play when attempting to check out the occasional music video on YouTube, as you may have frustratingly encountered.

If UK artists bound by such contracts do attempt to break here in the States, it can take months, if not a solid year, before their music becomes available. I’m much too impatient, preferring my musical gratification more immediate and refusing to let my counterparts across the pond have all the fun, so I’ll pay (overpay, really) for the original import around the time of its original release. It’s an inconvenient plan that works while physical CDs are still being manufactured, and with shipping delays, isn’t as quick as I’d like.

For the most part, as much as I’ve gotten turned on to certain tunes and artists this way, I’ve refrained from featuring music that can’t be purchased without jumping through such hoops. So I was super-excited to discover that Ellie Goulding had gotten all the contractual I’s dotted and T’s crossed for a Stateside bid, issuing her digital EP, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, a little over a week ago.

An EP by the same name was released in the UK in December 2009, just after Goulding was shortlisted in the BBC Sound of 2010 critics poll. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter won top honors over other rising acts like The Drums and Hurts, joining such previous winners as Keane (2004), Adele (2008), and Little Boots (2009). Her full-length debut, Lights, followed in March, a set on which Goulding collaborated heavily with Starsmith (he produced 8 of the 10 tracks, with Frankmusik also handling one, and a brilliant one at that).

Goulding’s take on electro-pop sounds like a more accessible, remixed Björk, with Lights comprising what the second album Frou Frou never released might have sounded like. But I’m jumping ahead, since Lights remains an import-only affair. Though the 4-track An Introduction to Ellie Goulding shares not one song with its UK sister, the EP presents a solid, more focused showcase of what the multi-talented Brit has to offer her future fans.

Check out two sides of An Introduction, “Guns and Horses” and “Starry Eyed” and see if you don’t join Goulding’s fold instantly (and curse her record label for making you wait this long, because even more brilliant tunes await on Lights):

Proving the sonic similarities Ellie Goulding shares with Frou Frou, she partnered with Guy Sigsworth, one half of the disbanded electronica duo, and co-wrote three tracks with Diana Vickers for the British singer’s debut album. (Who’s Diana Vickers? Don’t get me started. Just read again from the top.)

Purchase An Introduction to Ellie Goulding via iTunes, Amazon MP3. iTunes also has a 6-track live EP recorded in London this July, if you’d like to count even more Goulding in your collection.