‘I’m just tired of being cynical’… As she embarks on a world tour, Marylebone local Ellie Goulding reflects on where she is in life right now.

So Ellie, you have called your new album Delirium. When was the last time you were in delirium?
I feel like I might be in it right now. It’s more of a regular thing for me. It’s just a word that seems fit for my life. My life is pretty crazy at the moment. So it can be surprised as a state of happiness, you know, deliriously happy, deliriously crazy, sad… I don’t know, it just kind of sums up the album.

The album sounds really huge, like almost every song on there could be a number one hit, like On My Mind. Was that the aim when you were making this?
I wanted to explore being a pop artist a bit more. I think my obsession with pop is those songs that you can imagine on a film or on a soundtrack. I think most people remember their films through music and through the soundtrack, and I loved the idea of making songs where each one has its own powerful meaning. Like even if I think of a song now, like Holding On For Life, it’s about being in that kind of final passionate fear of losing each other.

But then like Codes is about the early stages of a relationship where you just want that person to communicate with you properly because so many people go through that situation not knowing what the other person is thinking. You can’t read someone’s mind. And so it goes from everything from seemingly quite trivial human things to quite serious ones. I still managed to encapsulate all of that on this record but still be a pop artist and take it to the next level.

Do you think that guys usually do talk in codes?
I think people talk in codes – it’s a coping mechanism. Sometimes we all find it hard to be completely honest with ourselves and with other people and it’s kind of about that….. (MORE)

Ellie Goulding is at The O2 Arena from 24-25 March, for tickets see elliegoulding.com