Ellie Goulding's sound in Delirium symbolizes an evolution of sorts. She's gone full pop. Some of Delirium's lyrics seem very teenage girlish, but that's true of mainstream pop. If you buy red velvet cake, you'd expect it to taste like red velvet, right?

The night before the release I listened to some of Goulding's features the night before listening to her collab with Tinie Tempah "Wonderman" and her beautifully orchestrated vocals on Active Child's "Silhouette". The latter, released two years ago" is an exact opposite of the sound on Delirium.

The album's first half is much more vibrant and hit-worthy than the middle, picking back up with "I Do What I Love" and "Paradise". As someone who remembers a more restrained Goulding, the album seems to have a lot going on. I stopped at "Codes", my favorite song on the album, before going back just to listen to Halcyon, her sophomore album. Something about the album felt more peaceful. (Duh, the name of the album is Halcyon which literally means "peaceful" and "content"). If anything, it shows Goulding has the great skill of genre range. Her cover of "Some Nights" as well as her duet with American folk singer Lissie on "Everywhere I Go" proves so. Delirium is punch after punch and at times it gets tiring after a bit.

Don't get me wrong! The album is great to jam to and the songs that work really work. "Don't Panic" is a great pop piece, and it'd be wild if it's not a single. Ellie Goulding herself said she's trying to step away from the image of the folky singer type. As someone going through their own trials of reinvention, it's a completely natural thing to do. She works very well as a pop star. Excellent, I should say as Delirium is definitely full of pop bangers. But songs like "Silhouette" "Hanging On" and many others that made folk-indie Ellie will be missed.

Top Five Songs In Order: Codes, Don't Panic, Paradise, Aftertaste, On My Mind,