I think there are various reasons, but looking from my own point of view (as a fan), she really lost me with her recent released that sound nothing like her old material. I imagine a lot of old school Ellie fans feel the same, you just don't really know what is going on with her and her career lately. She recently said on Jessie Ware's podcast that she likes her current way of working, with a mix of more American-sounding songs and more traditional Ellie songs, which is obviously good for her but it seems like it's not working for her general public.

It started with Delirium, not necessarily with On My Mind being single, but picking the wrong singles after that and being a mess of an album.

I think she can very well come back with a strong track but she can't really go back to being a consistent album seller.

at the end of the day I think it's the label's fault

they were very ambitious, realised that Ellie's own songs were not enough so they bought her a couple of huge songs ie Burn and LMLYD,

which is fine, if you want big hits and cannot write them yourself, you go buy them

 

but then, why they gave up? If they wanted Ellie to keep having super big international hits, why not buying another Max Martin song or another Tedder song? instead they go and buy from Blackbear and from Juice Wrld... it's obviously not the same...so at the end of the day, it's her label's fault for not investing more $$$ in Ellie

at the end of the day I think it's the label's fault

they were very ambitious, realised that Ellie's own songs were not enough so they bought her a couple of huge songs ie Burn and LMLYD,

which is fine, if you want big hits and cannot write them yourself, you go buy them

 

but then, why they gave up? If they wanted Ellie to keep having super big international hits, why not buying another Max Martin song or another Tedder song? instead they go and buy from Blackbear and from Juice Wrld... it's obviously not the same...so at the end of the day, it's her label's fault for not investing more $$$ in Ellie

And there was me thinking Ellie was an artiste... :blink:

 

Lost & Found was her biggest missed opportunity. It could have smashed left, right & center. It is a career defining song, and I'm not exaggerating.

Edited June 28, 20205 yr by Voodoo

Lost and Found has always been "just a good ESC track" for me.

Lost & Found is great, love it, but being realistic, I cannot see it as #1 in both UK & US for 10 weeks :)

I think the issue is... 'Love me like you Do' was such a big hit... bigger than anything Ellie had ever done (maybe 'Burn'???)... 'On My Mind' wasn't catchy enough, 'Something in the Way You Move' would probably have been a better lead single (though I find it unbearable) but it has a similar melody to LMLYD.

 

'Close to Me' was quite big but it didn't feel like a lead single, more a promo single...

 

I think ultimately what I'm saying is... Ellie is not a POPSTAR... she's an artist who makes pop music and she was pushed into an area that doesn't really work for her... I love LAF but I don't know where people think it would be a hit?

 

Saying that... 'Worry About Me' is far superior to 'Power' and 'Sixteen'.

Edited June 29, 20205 yr by dannjohn

I also think Ellie is one of those artists who doesn't really have a fanbase, she obviously has fans, but I feel she is more supported by the general public. So when they leave, she doesn't have much to fall back on. Compared to someone like Marina, who has not had the same success as Ellie, but who does have a very dedicated fanbase around her.

I also think Ellie is one of those artists who doesn't really have a fanbase, she obviously has fans, but I feel she is more supported by the general public. So when they leave, she doesn't have much to fall back on. Compared to someone like Marina, who has not had the same success as Ellie, but who does have a very dedicated fanbase around her.

Deffo, although iTunes is obvs irrelevant in the grand scheme of things nowadays, I still think a song's iTunes position on its' first day is a good indication of how many stans they have, because the stans will still buy the song and Marina's Handmade Heaven got #19 on its first day while Close to Me was only #40.

I think that's a really valid comment tbh... as Ellie has always 'pandered' to the GP, I don't believe she has that big of a fan base as she's never really released anything experimental except maybe 'Figure 8'.

Not giving her a lane was where they went wrong, and that dates back to her very first album.

 

Ellie is at her core an artist who writes herself folky-electronic-pop songs. From the off it seems the label was more interested in making her VOICE the selling point - so shot her onto a bunch of covers, putting her from the off on a slightly twee track.

 

Then for whatever reason they, as said above, decided to push her from that lane into a main pop girl lane and pulled out all the stops to get her some big pure pop songs like Burn and then securing Love Me Like You Do for the 50 Shades soundtrack.

 

Ever since Burn she's been playing at being a main pop girl in her label's eyes - but the way it's been approached has been so inorganic that she hasn't really brought her core fans along with her into that. Strike #1.

 

Strike #2 is how her releases have been so inconsistent. As said there were a slew of ready-made singles on Delerium way more radio friendly than On My Mind and Army.

 

Strike #3 is the big gap between Delerium and her musical comeback, and Strike #4 is that musical comeback sounding nothing like anything before.

I was pretty much in until 'Hate Me' and I loathed 'Close To Me', but I heard it around so dealt with it.

I will actually vote for 'On My Mind'. She was in such a perfect position to smash right out of the gate after 'Love Me Like You Do', but I feel like that just undid it all. It performed about the bare minimum of what you'd expect from a lead Ellie single at that point in time, and it got the album off to a shaky start from which it never really recovered. They absolutely should have lead that campaign with 'Something In The Way You Move', and for that they're IDIOTS.

 

But that was only the beginning, there were signs after this that her career was heading south. First, they obviously tried to recreate LMLYD with 'Still Falling For You' but it was nowhere near as successful. Then, the Kygo collaboration - which at the time on paper should have been a guaranteed smash totally bombed (although to be fair, it was a woeful song).

 

Close To Me, Hate Me and Worry About Me all seemed like such an obvious and desperate attempt to sound American and hip, and I don't think anybody's taking that seriously.

 

But yeah, I have no idea who she even is as an artist anymore. The new single is really good, but it's too late now.

Edited July 1, 20205 yr by Tawdry Hepburn