CITYist

Enter Ellie Goulding. This doe-eyed, Herefordian canary emerged on the scene in 2010 with her March release of Lights by Polydor Records. Co-produced by British electropop veterans Starsmith and Frankmusik, among others, the album has garnered instant success. Since then, it has gone on to sell 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom, 40,000 of which were sold in its first week debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

While we can’t really claim British pop star Ellie Goulding as an underground find (her album did go number one on the UK charts), we still think her exposure on this side of the pond is minimal—and should be greater. With an eerie soprano backed by electronic beats provided by producer Starsmith, Goulding broke free from the genre of “freak folk” into intellectual pop. Her songs “Starry Eyed” and “Under the Sheets” (videos after the jump) are pure pop elation, while her newly released video for “Guns and Horses” shows a softer side. We can’t say music videos are her strong point—she’s no Lady Gaga—but no one can hit those slightly angelic slightly bone-chilling high notes like Goulding can.