Ellie Goulding looking forward to traditional Christmas after relentless work schedule

Ellie Goulding looking forward to traditional Christmas after relentless work schedule

24 Dec 2012 19:00

She has sung for royalty and the Obamas, but now Ellie just wants to spend time with her family this Christmas

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A traditional Christmas at home with her grandmother, mum and sisters is top of Ellie Goulding’s wish list as the festive season gets under way.

It will be a welcome break for the 25-year-old star who has been working relentlessly since her debut album Lights catapulted her to fame in 2010.

Last year, Ellie provided the live entertainment at Prince William and Kate’s wedding reception, and sang Christmas carols for the Obamas at the White House.

This year, she will enjoy considerably more cheer with her family than during the cash-strapped Christmases of her childhood in Hereford.

“We never had any money so it was always quite stressful,” Ellie recalls over a cup of herbal tea.

“My mum never wanted us to go without, so she’d start buying things for us early in the year.

“I was quite a weird kid because I didn’t like getting presents. I don’t know why. I just went for books all the time.”

This year’s family Ch ristmas will be very different to last year, which Ellie spent with her then boyfriend, Sonny Moore aka DJ Skrillex, dressed as Santas and handing out presents in the poor districts of Los Angeles.

“My family were like, ‘What are you doing?’ she recalls.

“But obviously they were fine when then realised that volunteering was what I wanted to do.”

Christmas will also give Ellie a chance to reflect on a year of consolidation and change.

Her second album Halcyon showed a more nuanced personality, and a bolder, more confident artist than the newcomer who won the Brits Critics’ Choice award in 2010.

She and Skrillex split in the autumn as the strain of keeping their relationship alive across two continents took its toll.

“It was just a bit rubbish, really,” she says. “We were simply living too far away. It was sad because we’re good mates.”

Until her just completed UK tour, Ellie had spent much of the year abroad.

 

Ex: Skrillex with Ellie

Getty

“People ask me when I’m moving back to the UK,” she smiles, “but I’ve always lived here, thank you very much.

"I start really missing London when I go away. I have a little flat, but very central. I live above a pub and you’d think it’d be a nightmare, but I like hearing the music and it’s quite comforting.

"They take care of me, take in my post and things like that.”

Settling into city life and a period in therapy has helped Ellie overcome the panic attacks that blighted her initial period in the spotlight.

“I feel I’ve been through that now and I’m over it,” she says.

“I can’t believe I got myself into that situation of panic. At the time it was normal for me to walk into a room, sit next to you and think, ‘I can’t do this’.

“At the time I couldn’t even leave my flat. Now if panic hits, you have to sort of be friends with your body. It’s like your body will actually work against you.

â €œEver since I’ve been young I’ve been fascinated by the human body.

"I’ve written songs about it, but you can become quite morbid if you think about it too much â€" paranoid and a hypochondriac.”

So how does she view her achievements to date?

“I feel very grateful and lucky for everything I’ve done,” Ellie admits. “But I’m still the same girl really. To have done the stuff I’ve done... it’s just incomprehensible.”

New single, Figure 8, is out now.