I’ll be completely honest: I haven’t properly listened to an Ellie Goulding record since her Lights era. But her sixth studio album, I Know Too Much, turned out to be a bloody good surprise. Out today via Polydor Records, the 10-track project captures an artist operating with complete freedom, balancing raw emotional weight with infectious, bedroom-dance-party pop.
Things start strong with “Black Prada Dress,” a track that’s been a personal favourite of mine since it dropped as a single, setting a confident tone before rolling into “Jealousy” and “Loser.” Together, they feel like the absolute perfect trio to open the record. From there, we hit “4 Seasons,” another single that hits home by playing on those terrifying early fears of falling for someone, knowing you want to jump in, but feeling scared to death of getting burned (“I don’t usually trust guys like you, but right now I don’t really care if it’s real or not, it’s real enough”).
On “Nobody Dances,” we get hit with a driving beat that builds into a classic, prime-era Ellie track. It taps straight into that subtle paranoia of getting too comfortable with someone (“Nobody does it like you, nobody knows me that well, I’m terrified that I’ll have to spend the rest of my life dancing by myself”).
The vibe shifts completely on “Always Think Of You.” Guided by stripped-back guitars, her lovely, signature raspy voice really shines through. It carries the heavy weight of looking back on an abusive dynamic and realizing just how much you’ve grown since (“The shit you did then I would never put up with now”). But before things get too heavy, focus track “For Your Entertainment” swoops in, a total banger with a chorus that instantly makes you want to dance around your bedroom with a hairbrush.
The standout moment for me, though, is “Misremember You.” It tackles that messy, complicated feeling of leaving a toxic relationship, but wanting to hold onto the good parts anyway (“All my friends would die if they knew I still see you in a good light from time to time… because if I’m going to hate you I would have to hate the version of myself that once believed in you”).
Where the title track “I Know Too Much” feels like a personal, inward reflection on her own patterns in love, the album closer “Ravers” ends everything on an absolute high. It’s a full-on electronic rave tune that brings the record home in style.
Overall, I Know Too Much is a brilliant, complete body of work that proves just how versatile and sharp Ellie Goulding remains as a songwriter and performer. Having stepped away from her discography for so long, this album felt like a total wake-up call, it’s bloody great to have her back. If this record is anything to go by, I’m definitely going back to dive properly through everything I missed in her back catalogue.
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