This article is about the Ellie Goulding album. For the song by the German power metal band Powerwolf, see
Blessed & Possessed. For the song by American rock band Heaven Below, see
Falling from Zero.
Higher Than Heaven is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter
Ellie Goulding, released on 7 April 2023[3] by
Polydor Records.[4] It is her first album in three years, since Brightest Blue (2020).
The album was preceded by the singles "
Easy Lover", "
Let It Die", "
Like a Saviour" and "
By The End of the Night". Higher Than Heaven was a commercial success, it debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart, shifting 11,818
album-equivalent units in its first week.[5] It became Goulding's fourth chart-topping album in the country, putting her level with
Adele as the two British female artists with the most number one albums.
Higher Than Heaven received positive reviews from music critics and was named as one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, and Billboard.
Background and development
The album was written in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, according to Goulding: "There was definitely a darkness about [the past two years] that was palpable in the studio, with everyone having gone through it differently. I think for that reason, nobody wanted to sit and agonise over some relationship or some drama. So that's how this album came together.[6]
Goulding expressed that in contrast to her previous 2020 album Brightest Blue, the album is her "least personal album." She elaborated "...I think it’s the best album because I got to just explore other things about myself. I just really, really enjoy writing, really enjoy being a singer. [It] was such a relief and really refreshing to not be sitting in the studio going through all the things that happened to me and affected me. Because I feel things very deeply."[7]
Release and promotion
On 19 October 2022, Goulding announced the album's title and revealed its artwork cover, with an initial release date of 3 February 2023.[8] However, on 9 January 2023, Goulding announced an initial delay to 24 March, stating "...we’ve had some exciting opportunities appear behind the scenes."[9][10] On 28 February, she announced a second delay to 7 April; stating issues with sourcing eco-friendly material for the album's physical formats.[11][12]
On 31 March, Goulding released the songs "Midnight Dreams", "Cure for Love", "Love Goes On" and "Higher Than Heaven" on digital platforms in conjunction with her appearance on the
Amazon Freevee series Monumental; making the first 8 tracks of the album available.[13][14][15][16]
On 7 April, the day of the album's release, Goulding released a music video for "Better Man", directed by Tom Sandford.[17][18]
Higher Than Heaven received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received a
weighted average score of 77, based on seven reviews - Goulding's highest-rated album of her career.[20] Aggregator
AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 6.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[19]
In support of the album, Goulding announced European dates for the Higher Than Heaven Tour:[27] She also announced shows in the United States, accompanied by an orchestra.[28]
Setlist
This setlist is taken from the show at 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland on October 16, 2023.[29] It does not represent all shows on this tour.
In the United Kingdom, Higher Than Heaven debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart, shifting 11,818
album-equivalent units in its first week, the lowest of any of her albums.[5] It became Goulding's fourth chart-topping album in the country, putting her level with
Adele as the two British female artists with the most number one albums.[30] In the same week, her single "
Miracle", a collaboration with
Calvin Harris, reached number one on the
UK Singles Chart, earning Goulding her first "chart double", although "Miracle" does not feature on Higher Than Heaven.[5][30][31]