Ellie Goulding's on fire in 'Power' video, fans say she raised the bar with song on 21st-century relationships
Ellie Goulding is giving listeners a chance to spot early warning signs of a superficial relationship. The English singer-songwriter has released a new single, 'Power', along with a music video on May 21. The song addresses superficial power dynamics in 21st-century relationships and will appear in Goulding's yet-to-be titled fourth studio album. As of now, there is no confirmed release date for the LP. 'Power' follows her single 'Worry About Me', featuring Blackbear.
Goulding self-shot the music video from her home while under quarantine in London, with creative direction over FaceTime from Imogen Snell and Riccardo Castano of ISSTUDIO (Madonna, The XX). In the video, we see Goulding donning various outfits over sensual aesthetics, with full, split-screen and selfie shots. "Head in the clouds, talking so loud, all I hear is static/I'm not a material girl, everything in your world just feels like plastic/Wearing your crown, it’s pulling me down/You just want the power, you're not really down for love/You just want the power," Goulding sings to the camera.
Goulding shared a clip of the new video on Twitter and wrote, "I’m excited & proud to present my song POWER to you. This was the first song I knew would be on my 4th album. I like my songs to have resolutions and this song reflects indulgence in superficial relationships, but also is an embrace of my own sexuality."
Fans on Twitter were teeming with excitement over the new track. "Wowowowowwoowwowowow I cannot express how excited and ready I am for EG4 after that," said a fan while another wrote, "Girl you've done it again constantly raising the bar for us all." Amongst a multitude of excited responses (in all caps), comments included, "IT'S SUCH A BOP OMGGGG" and "YOU SNAPPED SO HARD" and "I'M SPEECHLESS." One fan wrote, "HOLYYYYY girl u went so damn hard it’s fire."
According to Rolling Stone, Goulding spoke on the inspiration behind the new song in a statement. "I wanted to release this song off my upcoming album as a preview into the world my new album is in. ‘Power’ is about relationships in the 21st century, how they can now be dictated by social media, superficiality and material things," she said. "Dating can sometimes start out with lies or embellishments. The girl in the song is disillusioned by love and the cruel, good looking, self-obsessed people she keeps ending up with."