Tranquil reinvention

The once prim Ellie Goulding has gone for a brash, edgy sound on new album Halcyon. But don’t mention the new haircut, says Ed Power

ELLIE Goulding has grown up the hard way, in public. Starting off, the Brit-winning singer was an archetypal ingenue — softly spoken, prim, a bit skittish. In other words, an unlikely pop star.

This remained so, even after her debut album, Lights, went to number one in the UK in 2010, and she was asked to sing at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. Goulding looked like a deer stunned in the headlights. But clearly things have changed. On a crisp Cork morning, it is a very different Goulding who sweeps into town for a 12-hour visit in which she will play two Arthur’s Day gigs in one night.