I have a deep, dark secret...

A guilty pleasure like none other I've ever had before. Those of you who know me know I'm not the kind of person to torture my ears with whatever drivel is generally played on the radio. Ever. I hold a certain disdain for pop music in general, and it mostly comes down to the greed & money aspect paired with usually a lack of any artistic merit. But today, that all changed. I listened to Ellie Goulding's album Lights.

As with many people who spend a lot of time in a workplace, I'm exposed to a lot of radio. Most of the time I just shut it out by ignoring it's existence or plugging in the earphones. Now & then they play something good like the Naked and Famous, and occasionally they play something I'm indifferent about like Ellie's single Starry Eyed. With enough exposure, this indifference developed into mild interest, and then eventually into appreciation. Sweet monkeycrapping Jesus Christ, a pop artist with a nice voice with unique and well-written songs! Pop music seems to usually just jump out of the radio and begin an incessant and intrusive assault on my ears, but Ellie's music whispered softly and sweetly and floated it's way straight through my high-security anti-pop music mental barrier.

The fact is, her music is different, and perhaps that's why there was never really a big fuss about her down here. Starry Eyes had it's moment of fame, and as of lately the airwaves seem reasonably devoid of any trace of Ellie. Her music is a lot more down to earth; lyrically it doesn't sound materialistic or promiscuous, and musically it's not over-produced, it's quite subtle. It sort of gently flows through the ear, enforcing a surrealistic dreaminess about the whole album. It's glittery, in a pretty and beautiful way, and the creativity of the artist behind this pop album proves that sometimes that which glitters is, in fact, gold.