Brightest Blue

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Brightest Blue
Image of a female with wet hair and negative blue hue effect.
Digital album cover;[1] physical editions feature artist name,[2] while Target edition features alternate colours[3]
Studio album by Ellie Goulding
Released 17 July 2020 (2020-07-17)
Recorded 2017–2020
Genre
Length 56:35
Label Polydor
Producer
Ellie Goulding chronology
Delirium
(2015)		 Brightest Blue
(2020)		 Higher Than Heaven
(2023)
Singles from Brightest Blue

Brightest Blue is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding. It was released on 17 July 2020 through Polydor Records. Originally scheduled for 5 June 2020, the album's release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The album was preceded by three singles: "Worry About Me", "Power" and "Slow Grenade", and features guest vocals from Blackbear, Diplo, Juice WRLD, Lauv, serpentwithfeet and Swae Lee. It is Goulding's first album since Delirium (2015). Brightest Blue received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was also a commercial success. It became Goulding's third album to peak at number one in the UK and fourth album to debut inside the top three on the chart. The album also peaked inside the top ten in several other countries. To promote the album, Goulding was set to embark on the Brightest Blue Tour on 28 April 2021, however this was pushed back to 5 October 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions in the UK.[5]

Background

In January 2017, Goulding announced that work on new music had begun.[6] In April of the same year, producer BloodPop revealed on social media he was in the studio with Goulding.[7] That same month, Goulding released a collaboration with Kygo entitled "First Time".[8] On 24 October 2018, she released "Close to Me" with Diplo and Swae Lee.[9] She told The Guardian in early 2019, "It's very much written by me." She further discussed three new songs: "Flux", "Love I'm Given" and "Electricity".[10] "Flux" was released on 1 March of the same year.[11]

In July 2019, Goulding stated that her next material to be released would be the songs "Woman I Am" and "Start".[12] In November, she released her rendition of Joni Mitchell's Christmas song "River", which topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming her third UK number-one single and the last UK number one song of the 2010s.[13] In a March 2020 interview with Heart, Goulding revealed that the album "kind of comes in two parts," adding that she plays the guitar, bass and piano on the project.[14] During an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, she described the album as having two sides, revealing that the first side will features songs written entirely by her, while the second is described as being "like an alter ego" and contains the majority of singles released from 2018 to 2020.[15]

Release and promotion

On 27 May 2020, Goulding announced Brightest Blue as the album's title, alongside its cover artwork, release dates and formats, and track listing. The album's pre-order was made alongside the announcement.[16] The first side, Brightest Blue, features 13 total tracks, while the second EG.0, features the previously-released "Close to Me", "Hate Me" and "Worry About Me", as well as two new tracks.[17] Originally scheduled for release on 5 June 2020,[citation needed] it was later delayed to 12 June, and later to 17 July of the same year.[18] On 13 July of the same year, she released a trailer for the album on YouTube.[19] In support of the album, Goulding embarked on the Brightest Blue Tour, which began on the 28 April 2021.[20]

For the album's physical release, Goulding and her team opted to have copies manufactured with as many environmentally-friendly materials as possible. According to Goulding's official digital store, a regular single-disc CD is packaged in a Digisleeve manufactured with FSC-certified recycled cardboard and is sealed in a "plant-based" wrap.[21] Variations of formats such as cassette tapes and vinyl records have also been manufactured with minimised or recycled plastic materials and packaging. Goulding added "[...] great progress has been made on this and I'm pleased we've been able to push the industry forwards, but we are still pushing to do more."[22]

Singles

On 13 March 2020, Goulding released "Worry About Me", a collaboration with Blackbear, as the first single from the album.[23][24] The accompanying music video, directed by Emil Nava, was released the same day.[25] Upon the song's release, it received generally positive reviews from music critics.[26][27] Commercially, the song debuted at number 78 on the UK Singles Chart.[28] On 21 May 2020, "Power" was released as the album's second single.[29][30] The accompanying music video was directed by Imogen Snell and Riccardo Castano, and was released later the same day.[31] It peaked at number 86 in the UK.[32] The Lauv-assisted "Slow Grenade" was released as the third single on 30 June 2020.[33][34] "Love I'm Given" was released as the album's fourth single on 19 August 2020, along with a music video.[35]

Brightest Blue Tour

Brightest Blue
Tour by Ellie Goulding
Location United Kingdom
Associated album Brightest Blue
Start date 7 October 2021 (2021-10-07)
End date 17 October 2021 (2021-10-17)
Legs 1
Number of shows 6
Ellie Goulding concert chronology

Set list

This set list is representative of the concert in Glasgow on October 7, 2021.[36] It does not represent all concerts for the tour.

  1. "Start"
  2. "Power"
  3. "How Deep Is Too Deep"
  4. "Powerful"
  5. "Aftertaste"
  6. "New Heights"
  7. "Bleach"
  8. "New Love"
  9. "Flux"
  10. "Only You"
  11. "Worry About Me"
  12. "I Need Your Love"
  13. "Close To Me"
  14. "Love I'm Given"
  15. "Woman"
  16. "Love Me Like You Do"
  17. "Tides"
  18. "Brightest Blue"
  19. "Holding On For Life"
  20. "Anything Could Happen"

Encore

  1. "Lights"
  2. "Burn"


Notes

  • During the show in London, Goulding performed "Hate Me", and "Tides" was performed before "Love Me Like You Do".[37]
List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue
Dates City Country Venue Support Act
October 7, 2021 Glasgow Scotland O2 Academy Glasgow L Devine
October 9, 2021 Newcastle England O2 Academy Newcastle
October 11, 2021 Manchester O2 Apollo Manchester
October 13, 2021 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham
October 15, 2021 Bournemouth O2 Academy Bournemouth
October 17, 2021 London Eventim Apollo

Cancelled Dates

Dates City Country Venue Reason for Cancellation
October 5, 2021 Dublin Ireland Olympia Theatre Unforeseen circumstances

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[39]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[40]
musicOMH 4/5 stars[41]
Pitchfork 6.4/10[42]
Slant 1.5/5 stars[43]

Brightest Blue received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received a weighted average score of 74, based on ten reviews.[39] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 6.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[38]

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung called the album, "a powerful reclamation of self that recaptures the simplicity of her debut and the vulnerability of Halcyon", as well as a statement that "has growth and maturity at its core".[40]

Commercial performance

Brightest Blue became Goulding's third number-one album in the United Kingdom, debuting with sales of 14,820 units.[44]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Ellie Goulding. 

Brightest Blue – Side A track listing
No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Start" (featuring Serpentwithfeet)
5:07
2. "Power"  
  • Scott
  • Coffer
 3:11
3. "How Deep Is Too Deep"  
3:25
4. "Cyan"  
  • Kearns
  • Eliot[a]
  • Starsmith[a]
 0:57
5. "Love I'm Given"  
3:29
6. "New Heights"  
  • Kearns
  • Wimberly
 4:12
7. "Ode to Myself"   Kearns 1:51
8. "Woman"  
  • Kearns
  • Starsmith
  • Teplin
 3:47
9. "Tides"   Starsmith 3:51
10. "Wine Drunk"   Kearns 0:48
11. "Bleach"  
  • Kearns
  • Wimberly[a]
 3:17
12. "Flux"  
  • Kearns
  • Cooke
 3:50
13. "Brightest Blue"  
  • Kearns
  • Eliot
 4:49
Total length:
 42:34
EG.0 – Side B track listing
No. Title Producer(s) Length
14. "Overture"  
  • Wyatt
  • Kearns
 1:17
15. "Worry About Me" (featuring Blackbear) Ilya 2:59
16. "Slow Grenade" (featuring Lauv)
  • Kearns
  • Görres
  • Kearns[v]
 3:37
17. "Close to Me" (with Diplo featuring Swae Lee)
3:02
18. "Hate Me" (with Juice Wrld)
3:06
Total length:
 56:35
International digital edition bonus track[45][46][47]
No. Title Producer(s) Length
19. "Sixteen"  
3:21
Total length:
 59:56
Japanese version bonus track[48]
No. Title Producer(s) Length
19. "Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)" (with Diplo featuring Red Velvet)
  • Diplo
  • Ilya
  • van Daalen[a]
  • Alvaro[a]
 3:09
Total length:
 59:44

Notes

Personnel

Musicians

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

  • Ellie Goulding – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 2, 15), guitar (7)
  • Joe Kearns – drums (1, 13), keyboards (1, 4, 6–8, 11, 13), programming (1, 4, 6–8, 11–14), piano (6, 10), keyboards arrangement (11), bass guitar (12)
  • Katherine Jenkinson – cello (1, 6)
  • Ashok Klouda – cello (1, 6)
  • Emma Denton – cello (1)
  • John Myerscough – cello (1)
  • Max Cooke – keyboards, piano (1); string arrangement (6, 12, 13)
  • Laurie Anderson – viola (1, 6)
  • Meghan Cassidy – viola (1, 6)
  • Beatrix Lovejoy – violin (1, 6)
  • Jenny Sacha – violin (1, 6)
  • Mandhira De Saram – violin (1, 6)
  • Matthew Denton – violin (1, 6)
  • Natalie Klouda – violin (1, 6)
  • Thomas Gould – violin (1, 6)
  • Ann Beilby – viola (1)
  • Timothy Grant – viola (1)
  • Antonia Kesel – violin (1)
  • Claudia Ajmone-Marsan – violin (1)
  • Elizabeth Cooney – violin (1)
  • Eloisa-Fleur Thom – violin (1)
  • Magdalena Filipczak – violin (1)
  • Martyn Jackson – violin (1)
  • Serpentwithfeet – vocals (1)
  • Nicholas Brown – background vocals, choir arrangement, conductor (2, 13), piano (13)
  • Olivia Williams – background vocals, choir arrangement (2, 13)
  • Althea Edwards – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Angel Lindsay-Mae – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Dee Lewis-Clay – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Desrine Ramus – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Gabriele Williams-Silvera – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Hannah Khemoh – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Joel Bailey – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Kenneth Mark Burton – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Mariama Frida Touray – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Patrick Linton – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Paul Boldeau – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Philip Kwaku Yeboah – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Rochelle Sanderson-Mendes – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Serena Prince – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Tehillah Daniel – background vocals (2, 13)
  • Beau Blaise – background vocals, programming (2)
  • Jamie Scott – background vocals, bass guitar, drum programming, guitar, keyboards (2)
  • Will Brown – background vocals, synthesizer (2)
  • Jonny Coffer – bass guitar, drum programming, guitar, keyboards (2)
  • Starsmith – programming, synthesizer (3, 8, 9); keyboards, percussion (3, 9); guitar, piano, saxophone (6)
  • Jim Eliot – keyboards (4, 13), programming (4, 13), piano (12)
  • Mike Wise – bass guitar, drums, guitar, organ, piano, programming, synthesizer programming (5)
  • Zach Bines – vocals (5), spoken word (13)
  • Patrick Wimberly – programming (6, 11); bass guitar, drums, guitar (6)
  • Ben Chappell – cello (6)
  • Jason Klauber – guitar (6)
  • David Wrench – programming (6)
  • Eoin Schmidt-Martin – viola (6)
  • Kotono Sato – viola (6)
  • Ariel Lang – violin (6)
  • Ciaran McCabe – violin (6)
  • Daniel Pioro – violin (6)
  • Michelle Fleming – violin (6)
  • Nina Foster – violin (6)
  • Raja Halder – violin (6)
  • Eli Teplin – organ, piano, synth bass, synthesizer (8)
  • James Wyatt – strings (8, 9, 11), piano (11, 14); programming, string arrangement (14)
  • Rowan McIntosh – acoustic guitar (11)
  • Joe Clegg – percussion (12)
  • Sam Thompson – piano (13)
  • James Brett – conductor (14)
  • Bob Knight – vocal arrangement (14)
  • Leo Kotecha – background vocals (15)
  • Mylo Kotecha – background vocals (15)
  • Ilya – bass guitar, drums, percussion (15, 17), programming (15, 17); keyboards arrangement (15); background vocals, guitar, keyboards (17)
  • Peter Svensson – guitar (15, 17)
  • Savan Kotecha – piano (15), background vocals (17)
  • Blackbear – vocals (15)
  • Oscar Görres – background vocals (16), bass guitar (16), drums (16), guitar (16), keyboards (16), percussion (16), programming (16)
  • Lauv – vocals (16)
  • Alvaro – programming (17)
  • Bas van Daalen – programming (17)
  • Diplo – programming (17)
  • Swae Lee – vocals (17)
  • Jason Evigan – guitar (18), programming (18)
  • The Monsters & Strangerz – programming (18)
  • Juice Wrld – vocals (18)

Technical

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

  • Matt Colton – mastering (1–13)
  • Randy Merrill – mastering (14–17, 19)
  • Emerson Mancini – mastering (18)
  • Jamie Snell – mixing (1, 3, 8, 9, 11–13)
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing (2, 5, 15–17, 19)
  • Jason Elliott – mixing (4, 7, 10), engineering (1, 4–6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18)
  • David Wrench – mixing (6)
  • John Hanes – mixing (14), engineering (2, 5, 17, 19), mixing assistance (15, 16)
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (18)
  • Andy Cook – engineering (1, 9, 11, 13), engineering assistance (8)
  • Joe Kearns – engineering (1, 5–8, 10, 11, 13), vocal engineering (19)
  • Adam Miller – engineering (2, 13)
  • Martin Hannah – engineering (2)
  • Patrick Wimberly – engineering (6, 11)
  • Miles BA Robinson – engineering (6)
  • Mathew P. Scheiner – engineering (8)
  • Nick Taylor – engineering (14)
  • Ilya – engineering (15)
  • Diplo – engineering (17)
  • Swae Lee – engineering (17)
  • Sam Holland – engineering (17)
  • Randy Lanphear – engineering, mixing assistance (17)
  • Chris Galland – mix engineering (5)
  • Grace Banks – mixing assistance (6)
  • Simon Gooding – mixing assistance (6)
  • Josef Gomez – mixing assistance (17)
  • Manny Park – engineering assistance (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 13)
  • Luke Gibbs – engineering assistance (4, 7, 10)
  • Mark Knight – engineering assistance (12)
  • Rowan McIntosh – engineering assistance (12)
  • Olly Thompson – engineering assistance (14)
  • Cory Brice – engineering assistance (17)
  • Jeremy Lertola – engineering assistance (17)

Charts

Chart performance for Brightest Blue
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[52] 25
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[53] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[54] 17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[55] 37
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[56] 38
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[57] 58
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[58] 94
French Albums (SNEP)[59] 101
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[60] 12
9
Italian Albums (FIMI)[61] 86
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[62] 19
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[63] 30
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[64] 24
Scottish Albums (OCC)[65] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[66] 47
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[67] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[68] 1
US Billboard 200[69] 29

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Brightest Blue
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[70] Gold 40,000
Poland (ZPAV)[71] Gold 10,000
Singapore[72] Gold Expression error: Missing operand for *.
United Kingdom 55,000[73]
United States (RIAA)[74] Gold 500,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Release dates and formats for Brightest Blue
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 17 July 2020
Polydor [1][2][3]
Japan 26 August 2020 CD Universal Music Japan [48]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  53. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue" (in German). Hung Medien.
  54. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  55. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue" (in French). Hung Medien.
  56. ↑ "Ellie Goulding – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Ellie Goulding.
  57. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 202030 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data.
  58. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  59. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  60. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  61. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  62. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  63. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  64. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  65. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue". Hung Medien.
  68. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  69. ↑ "Ellie Goulding – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Ellie Goulding.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  71. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ UNSUPPORTED OR EMPTY REGION: Singapore.
  73. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  74. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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