By Samantha Capaldi

Ellie Goulding has officially moved into a completely new era with  the release of her third studio album Delirium. Goulding leaves behind her alliance with EDM right into the world of mainstream pop. The leap itself is not so far off as it seems to work both with Goulding’s vocals and shifting musical style. There has definitely been a lead up into this transition from her previous singles like “Burn” and her work on movie soundtracks like the Divergent series and Fifty Shades of Grey and into the first single from the album, the catchy and pop-infused “On My Mind.”

The album is set up to follow a carefully selected progression between each track. Goulding’s Delirium is quite literally introduced with the first track “Intro” filled with Goulding’s serene and mythical vocals that seamlessly lead into the following track “Aftertaste”. From there, Goulding leaves behind her angelic and ethereal tones explored in her previous album Halcyon. Instead she moves into upbeat dance tracks that follow like “Something in the Way You Move” and “Keep on Dancin’”.  The rest of the tracks follow in the same order with back to back dance tracks until it reaches “Army” where the album begins to slow down if only for a moment before jumping right back into the bass heavy dance beats.

Delirium contains an extensive list of 16 tracks. There were also 6 additional tracks added to the deluxe version of the album. Included in this extensive track list are three singles from collaborations featured on other artist’s albums including tracks from Calvin Harris’ album Motions (“Outside”), Major Lazer’s EP Peace Is The Mission (“Powerful,” also featuring Tarrus Riley) and Goulding’s contribution to the Fifty Shades of Grey movie soundtrack with “Love Me Like You Do”.

Delirium is definitely a full-fledged pop album, but Ellie Goulding has still managed to keep in touch with her affinity for electronic music in tracks like “Don’t Need Nobody”, allowing for an easy transition not only into pop, but into a happier and joyous place. Halcyon was essentially a breakup album and now with Delirium, Goulding is smiling from ear to ear and dancing from song to song. (Polydor)

Listen: “Love Me Like You Do”