Halcyon: More Misses Than Hits

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Ellie Goulding's second album, Halcyon, is filled with good beats and somewhat good lyrical content. With songs such as "Anything Could Happen" and "I Know You Care" as her two singles off the album, Halcyon is one of those albums were there's always some sort of a catch to it.



Halcyon has very few moments where Goulding shines through. Most of the songs are treat for music lovers who tend to focus more on the melody aspect of the song. Lyrically however, there are more misses than hits.

For instance, songs like "Atlantis" and "Only You" are lyrically mediocre. "Only You" has a verse and chorus repeated multiple times throughout the song while "Atlantis" has a single phrase that is constantly being sung over and over in two thirds of the song.

With the few songs that Goulding succeeds on having good lyrical content, "My Blood" offers its haunting verse: "the alarms will ring for eternity/the waves break every chain on me/My bones will bleach/My flesh will fee/So help my lifeless frame to breathe..." The song "Figure 8" also showcases Gouding's clever lyrical tactics with "still not too old to die young".

Along with Ellie Goulding, rapper Tinie Tempah is also featured in the album with "Hanging On". The song itself has an interesting beat along with good vocals that has the right amount of emotion to like the song. The lyrics of the track are also good as well. "Touch me and then turn away/And put your hands into the flame/Tell me if you feel this pain/'Cause I don't want to be a ball and chain".

With Tempah providing his verse into "Hanging On", the song goes from good to disappointing with his verse. "I barely even know this f-ing woman in my bed/And if there's too much on my plate then I ain't finishing my veg/And if anybody said the grass is greener on the other side/Well it ain't, swear on my mother's life".

Goulding's second album is filled with a lot of songs that have good beats with a lack of good lyrical content. Most of the tracks would have the chance to be potentially good songs if Goulding would have taken the time to concentrate on the lyrical aspect of Halcyon. With the rating of two and half out of five stars, Halcyon is one of those albums where it relies on the beats to save it.