“I would have liked to spend more time with him,” says Goulding of the late rapper.
Ellie Goulding has returned with her first album in five years, and her most revealing feature film to date. Before the launch of Brightest Blue On Friday (July 17), the veteran UK pop star chatted with Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz about the genesis of the album and the special collaboration with Juice WRLD who made their track list.
After a tour wrapped in support of Goulding’s 2015 album Delirium“I came home and for the first time I had days off and weeks off,” she says. “It was so strange for me to have that time, that I had to start reflecting on everything and unraveling my life for the past few years, regardless of whether I wanted it or not. I knew it was time to face everything that had happened, and then I said to myself, ‘Wow, now I’m like a woman.’ “
Brightest Blue includes collaborations with Swae Lee and Diplo, Lauv, Blackbear, and Juice WRLD; the latter passed away last December at the age of 20, after her collaboration with Goulding, “Odiame”, had already been released. In a bittersweet twist, Juice WRLD’s first posthumous album, Legends never die, was released on July 10, a week before Brightest Blue.
“When I heard ‘Lucid Dreams’ the first time, I thought,’ Who it is This? “And I don’t have that moment very often with artists,” says Goulding, nodding to Juice WRLD’s breakthrough. Goulding says he immediately wanted to know “everything about him,” and after asking about Juice WRLD with Max Martin’s camp, he reached out to ask the rapper to collaborate on “Odiame.”
“I would have liked to spend more time with him,” says Goulding. “I wish we could have lived that song together. … I think he was at the beginning of an incredibly special journey, and everyone was very excited for him, we were very excited for him and, yes, he is painfully sad. “
Watch the video above for more information on Goulding, including a discussion on how much of his recent marriage is explored (or not) at Brightest Blue.
