Bright Lights is a reissue of English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding's debut studio album, Lights (2010). Released on 29 November 2010 through Polydor Records, it includes seven new tracks from Lights along with two singles: a cover version of Elton John's "Your Song", and the original album's title track, "Lights".
Singles The reissue's lead single was Goulding's cover of Elton John's "Your Song" (1970), released on 12 November 2010. It peaked number two on the UK Singles Chart. In the United Kingdom, it was featured in the 2010 John Lewis Christmas advert. On 13 March 2011, "Lights" was released as the second single from Bright Lights. It peaked at number 49 in the United Kingdom. In the United States and Canada, the song was released on 23 May, and it reached numbers two and seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, respectively. As of June 2013, "Lights" had sold four million copies in the United States.
Critical reception
Jon O'Brien of AllMusic noted that while Bright Lights "may not offer anything particularly new", it's "a consistently enjoyable addition to her catalog". Simon Gage from Daily Express noted that it is "all in the same very high-quality vein", praising Goulding's vocal. However, Gage criticised that "it's not clear why she didn't come up with a couple more songs and a totally fresh album".
Track listing All tracks in the standard edition were produced by Starsmith, except where noted.
Personnel Credits were adapted from the liner notes.
Recording Locations The Pool & The Square; London (track 17) Starsmith's bedroom; Bromley (all tracks on Lights)
Musicians
Ellie Goulding – vocals (all tracks); guitar (track 11); acoustic guitar (track 13, 18); mandolin (track 13) Steve Malcolmson – programming (track 11) Richard "Biff" Stannard – bass, keyboards (track 11) Ash Howes – drums, keyboards (track 11) Starsmith – programming, acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, backing vocals (tracks 12, 15) Joe Clegg – drums (track 12) Liam Howe – programming, all other instruments (track 13) Crispin Hunt – guitar, keyboards (tracks 14, 16) Fred Falke – keyboards, drum programming (tracks 14, 16); bass (track 14); guitar (track 16) Ruth de Turberville – cello, backing vocals (track 17) Ben Lovett – piano, backing vocals, kick drum (track 17) Matt Wiggins – timpani (track 17)
Technical Richard "Biff" Stannard – production, mixing (track 11) Ash Howes – production, mixing (track 11) Starsmith – production (tracks 12, 15) Jeremy Wheatley – mixing (tracks 12, 14, 16) Richard Edgeler – mixing assistance (tracks 12, 14, 16) Julian Kindred – engineering (track 12) Liam Howe – production, mixing, engineering (track 13) Fred Falke – production (tracks 14, 16) Rob Blake – original production (track 16) Crispin Hunt – original production (track 16) Ben Lovett – production (track 17) Matt Lawrence – engineering, mixing (track 17) Naweed – mastering
Artwork Scott Trindle – photography Traffic – design
Charts + Weekly chart performance Chart (2012–2013) Peakposition
Release history + List of release dates and formats Region Date Format(s) Label Ireland 26 November 2010 Polydor United Kingdom 29 November 2010 Sweden 20 December 2010 Universal Germany 21 December 2010 Italy 6 January 2011 Netherlands 7 January 2011 Poland 1 July 2011
References