Ellie Goulding - Ones To Watch 2010 #1

Ellie Goulding may not be the most surprising choice of our ones to watch for 2010 , but it is exactly for this reason that we are putting her first on the list. From when we originally featured her as an unsigned artist way back in February here she has followed what is now becoming the music industry norm for breaking a new act that wants a little more credibility than a mainstream pop artist. The artist signs up for a debut release on a tiny, hyped up ‘cool’ indie label such as Neon Gold, Moshi Moshi or Kitsune (and this is not a criticism of any of these labels as we are in most cases a fan of all three) usually sometime between September and November. The release is a quirky, less obvious limited edition single, generating significant blog and hip press buzz that translates into some radio play, a small fan base, possible TV appearance (in this case Later With Jools) and positioning on lists such as the BBC Sound Of List - and we'll see if she is on that list in a few days time. Then once the tastemakers have done their job, the artist is pushed out to the mainstream via a major label, the development of the act being seen as more organic, the drip feed slowly saturating the media. It happened this year with Little Boots and La Roux, and next year we suspect it may also occur with Marina and the Diamonds (not featured on this list as she was on last years - see our explanation of criteria blog yesterday and the video for Marina's new single Hollywood) and Ellie Goulding.

Ellie Goulding has followed this model to the letter and we have blogged previously here about being cautious with her and not over hyping, as this could lead to expectations which are not realistic. How many new developing bands or artists are there that swagger along fully formed, complete and absolutely perfect ? Very few, and this is the danger of the hype machine. It can chew up and spit out out fast.

With her quivering girlish vocal, an acoustic guitar, neat lyrical phrasing and stuttering laptop electro beats, Goulding could deliver commercially - but nagging away in the back of our brain is a thought that the songs we have heard probably don’t have enough variety to endear long term. Only time will tell if she is what the public wants.

For these reasons Ellie Goulding has to be one to watch. Will the cool pop indie / blog buzz model work for Ellie or will it be a case of hype over content and a commercial failure ? There is talent there - you only have to listen to the acoustic cover of Robyn's Be Mine she did recently with Erik Hassel to hear what a distinctive sweet voice she has. There's also the songs - Starry Eyed, The Writer and Guns and Horses are all favourites of ours - but is that enough? We will be watching with interest.