Ellie Goulding, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall review - a mellow evening of strings and song

For a singer so often sampled in electronic dance music, it’s a high-end twist to replace synth, claps and bass drum with the woodwinds, strings and brass of an orchestra.

Hot on the heels of her newest release, “Higher Than Heaven”, Ellie Golding performed a one night only gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Derrick Skye, and the London Voices Choir.

Rather than a straightforward set of her most recent work, the evening showcased a number of songs from over the years, with each movement carefully composed to work the music into a new symphonic sound.

Opening with “Burn”, the evening started with a slightly apprehensive feeling as the audience took in the competing aspects of a stage jam-packed with orchestra. Goulding performed at the very front of a small strip of stage and jostling sound levels gave a slight sense of disconnect, as if the singing was an acoustic overlay to the dominant orchestral swell.

Easing into the evening with early songs such as “The Writer” and “New Heights”, things started to feel settled with breakup classic “Flux” and we eased into and enjoyed the mellowness of the lyrics (“I'm still in love with the idea of loving you/It's a state of flux, but it's not enough”) enhanced by the orchestral backdrop.

There were covers too with “Your Song”, “How Long Will I Love You” and an also absolutely beautiful rendition of “Starry, Starry Night” which saw the audience beholden to Goulding’s uniquely raspy, soft-edged style giving wistful folk within such a sublime setting.

Alongside debuting a brand new song to supportive whoops, there were of course the crowd-pleasers that we can all sing along to such as “Still Falling For You”, “Close to Me” and “My Blood” which has been given a new lease of life recently thanks to TikTok. The finale comprised “Lights” and “Love Me Like You Do” that left us in a completely relaxed state, thankful that the evening was less driving dance floor beats of EDM and more the orchestra’s rich, lavish flow that shone a different light on Goulding’s music, giving a new way of hearing her voice as a standalone instrument in space as opposed to just a sampled snippet.

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